exact: [15] The adjective exact ‘precise’ and the verb exact ‘demand with severity’ have undergone considerable semantic divergence over the centuries, but they both go back to the same source, the Latin verb exigere (from which English also got essay, examine, exigent [15], and exiguous [17]). This, a compound of the prefix ex- ‘out’ and agere ‘lead, drive’ (source of English act and agent), meant originally ‘drive out’, but in due course it developed the metaphorical senses ‘demand’ (preserved in the English verb), ‘weigh accurately’, and ‘bring to completion or perfection’.
These last two were taken up adjectivally in the Latin past participle exactus, from which English gets exact. => act, agent, essay, examine
exact (adj.)
"precise, rigorous, accurate," 1530s, from Latin exactus "precise, accurate, highly finished," past participle adjective from exigere "demand, require, enforce," literally "to drive or force out," also "finish, measure," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + agere "drive, lead, act" (see act (n.)).
exact (v.)
mid-15c., from Latin exactus, past participle of exigere "require, enforce, demand, collect (money);" see exact (adj.). Older in English than the adjective and retaining the literal sense of the Latin source. Related: Exacted; exacting.
雙語例句
1. The exact locations are being kept secret for reasons of security.
確切地點(diǎn)因?yàn)榘踩蛞Ｃ堋?/dd>
來自柯林斯例句
2. A small number — five, to be exact—have been bad.
一小部分——確切地說是5個(gè)——已經(jīng)壞了。
來自柯林斯例句
3. Charles scored again, with an exact duplicate of his first goal.
查爾斯再次得分,與第一次破門如出一轍.
來自柯林斯例句
4. Find the exact grip that allows you to hit the ball hard.
找到能讓你大力擊球的準(zhǔn)確握拍方法。
來自柯林斯例句
5. It has taken until now to pin down its exact location.