I. variants not shown in the pronunciations of “ex-” words below are ə or ē for the “e” when the prefix is unstressed and especially when a stressed syllable immediately precedes without pause, and ks for the “x” in words in which only gz is shown, as “exact” prefix
or ef-
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French & Latin; Old French, from Latin (also, perfective and intensive prefix), from ex out of, from; akin to Greek ex out of, from, Old Irish ess-, Old Slavic iz, izŭ, is
1. : out of : away from : outside of
ex circle
ex clave
2. : without : lacking
ex alate
ex albuminous
3. (|)eks
[Middle English ex-, from Late Latin, from Latin]
: out of (the office or condition named by the main word) : former : sometime — usually joined to second element by a hyphen
ex -president
ex -convict
— often with phrases
ex -child actor
ex -man-about-town
— usually ef- in senses 1 & 2 before f
ef form
ef fuse
— always ex- in sense 3
II.
— see exo-