exhort

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪɡˈzɔrt/ UK /ɪɡˈzɔːt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like exalt /l/ vs /r/

Meanings

1

verb
to urge or encourage someone strongly to do something

The captain exhorted his crew to hold the line.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to urge or encourage... urge encourage admonish enjoin press entreat implore

Opposites

dissuade discourage deter

Word family

Derived forms exhortationexhorterexhortativeexhortatory

Related forms hortatory

Etymology

From Old French exhorter, from Latin exhortari ('to encourage strongly'), from ex- ('thoroughly') + hortari ('to urge, encourage').

exhortari Latin hortari Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# exhort

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪɡˈzɔrt/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪɡˈzɔːt/

## Meanings
1. to urge or encourage someone strongly to do something

## Examples
- The captain exhorted his crew to hold the line.

## Synonyms
- urge
- encourage
- admonish
- enjoin
- press
- entreat
- implore

## Antonyms
- dissuade
- discourage
- deter

## Derived Forms
- exhortation
- exhorter
- exhortative
- exhortatory

## Related Forms
- hortatory

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: exhortari
- Root: hortari

## Etymology
From Old French exhorter, from Latin exhortari ('to encourage strongly'), from ex- ('thoroughly') + hortari ('to urge, encourage').

## AI Etymology
Exhort comes from Old French exhorter, from Latin exhortari ('to encourage strongly'), from ex- ('thoroughly') + hortari ('to urge, encourage'). Morphologically, the form is compositional: ex- marks part of the visible structure, while the remaining element supplies the lexical base. In present use, it is used as a verb meaning "to urge or encourage someone strongly to do something", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as exhortation, exhorter, exhortative, and exhortatory and related forms such as hortatory, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin exhortari and Latin hortari, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by urge, encourage, admonish, and enjoin on one side and contrasts such as dissuade, discourage, and deter on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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