[1540–50; ‹ L eximius select, distinguished, excellent (deriv. of eximere to take out, remove), equiv. to ex- ex-1 + -im- (comb. form of emere to take) + -ius -ious]This word is first recorded in the period 1540–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: gondola, horizon, mandate, telltale, vacuumex- is a prefix meaning “out of,” “from,” and hence “utterly,” “thoroughly,” and sometimesimparting a privative or negative force or indicating a former title, status, etc.;freely used as an English formative. Other words that use the affix ex- include: ex-member, ex-wife, exstipulate, exterritorial; -ious is a suffix forming adjectives that have the general sense “possessing, full of”a given quality (glorious); it has often been used to Anglicize Latin adjectives with terminations that cannotbe directly adapted into English (atrocious; obvious)