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I'm working through a book in which I'm to define words using their prefixes, suffixes, and roots, and I ran across "exigent."

adjective \ˈek-sə-jənt\ : requiring immediate attention : needing to be dealt with immediately

In the books glossary, the parts are defined:

ex - out of, from
ig - to do, move, urge on, put into motion, drive
ent - that which, one who

So I put it together as "out of that which urges," but it still seems off to me.

I'm curious if anyone could help me make sense of how better to translate the parts into a definition.

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    You got the prefix right. But roots are not always transparent. The OED says [from Latin exigent-em, pr. pple. of exigere, f. ex- out + agere to drive: see exact; Cf. OFr. exigent]. You will have to learn some Latin and maybe some Greek if you want to do this kind of etymology. Most etymology in English is not Prefix+Root+Suffix.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 3:27
  • What you give for the would-be pronunciation makes no sense to many and probably most people reading this. The legitimate phonemic representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is either /ˈɛksɪdʒənt/ or in else a corresponding voiced version, /ˈɛgzɪdʒənt/. Whether the middle vowel /ɪ/ further reduces further than even that, perhaps even as far as [ə], depends on many other factors that vary from speaker to speaker and even utterance to utterance, but the difference is not phonemic.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 5:30

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Etymology can help understand words formation which, as Jonh Lowler rightly suggest, is more complex than it may appear.

Ex-

  • word-forming element, in English meaning mainly "out of, from," but also "upwards, completely, deprive of, without," and "former;" from Latin ex "out of, from within," from PIE *eghs "out" (cognates: Gaulish ex-, Old Irish ess-, Old Church Slavonic izu, Russian iz). In some cases also from Greek cognate ex, ek. PIE *eghs had comparative form *eks-tero and superlative *eks-t(e)r-emo-.

exigent (adj.) 1660s, "urgent," a back-formation from exigency or else from Latin exigentem (nominative exigens), present participle of exigere "to demand" (see exact (v.)).

exact (adj.) "precise, rigorous, accurate," 1530s, from Latin exactus "precise, accurate, exact," past participle of exigere "demand, require," literally "to drive or force out," also "demand, finish, measure," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + agere "drive, lead, act" (see act (n.)).

Source: http://www.etymonline.com

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