Etymology

exact

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Today it means: Precisely agreeing with a standard, a fact, or the truth; perfectly conforming; neither exceeding nor falling short in any respect. Full definition →

Latin exāctus ← Middle English exact
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromexact
  2. Latin · derived fromexāctus
  3. English todayexact

From Latin exāctus (the verb via Middle English exact), perfect passive participle of exigō (“demand, claim as due; measure by a standard, weigh, test”), from ex (“out”) + agō (“drive”).

Words from the same roots

Latinexāctus all →

exactaexactitude

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.