examen

The word 'examen' entered English directly from Latin, where it originally meant the tongue or pointer of a balance, and by extension, a means of weighing or judging. This concrete meaning evolved from the verb 'exigere' (to drive out, weigh, test), itself from 'ex-' (out) and 'agere' (to drive). The sense of a formal test or inspection developed from this idea of weighing or judging something carefully. The more common modern spelling 'examination' uses the same root but adds the noun-forming suffix '-ation'.

Structure: ex (out) + amen (drive, lead) 'ex-' is a Latin prefix meaning 'out, out of, from'. '-amen' is derived from the Latin root 'agere' (to drive, lead, do), which appears in this form in the Latin word 'examen', meaning the tongue of a balance, a swarm of bees, or an examination.