Exert

How to spell exert

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce exert

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exert mean?

1. verbTo apply or bring to bear effort, force, or influence.

Exert in a sentence

• Managers should not exert undue pressure on their staff.

• The new policy will exert a strong influence on local hiring.

Where does exert come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Exert comes from the Latin verb exserere, meaning literally 'to thrust out' or 'to stretch forth', formed from the prefix ex-, meaning 'out', and serere, meaning 'to join, bind, or weave together'. Its past participle, exsertus, described something pushed or extended outward, and that form is the direct ancestor of the English spelling. The word entered English in the seventeenth century, at first in the literal sense of putting something forth, and it soon developed the figurative meaning we use today: to put forth effort, force, or influence. The same serere root sits inside relatives such as 'series' (things joined in a row) and 'insert' (to put in), which is a useful reminder that the trap-prone middle of exert is spelled with a single 's' sound but a hidden Latin 'ser'. Because the modern pronunciation drops any trace of that original 's', writers sometimes hesitate over the spelling, even though it is simply ex- plus the familiar -ert ending.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• -ert (from Latin serere: to join, bind, put together)