The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂erk-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂orkéyeti
- Proto-Italic*arkeō
- Latinarceō
- Latinexerceō
- Latinexercitium
- Old Frenchexercise
- Middle Englishexercise
- English todayexercise
From Middle English exercise, from Old French exercise, from Latin exercitium. Displaced native Old English plega (“an exercise”) whence Modern English play.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.