English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Medieval Latin exemplificare, from Latin exemplum (example).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ɛɡˈzɛmplɪfaɪ/, /ɪɡˈzɛmplɪfaɪ/
  • (file)

Verb edit

exemplify (third-person singular simple present exemplifies, present participle exemplifying, simple past and past participle exemplified)

  1. (transitive) To show or illustrate by example.
  2. (transitive) To be an instance of or serve as an example.
    • 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)[1], page R28:
      [T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.
    • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60:
      Of course, closure of the West station took away the hotel's raison d'être. In May 2012, the local newspaper reported that this historic hotel, by then rated the town's worst (exemplified by its final review: "Please avoid at all costs"), was to be converted into 31 first-time-buyer one-bedroom flats.
  3. (transitive) To make an attested copy or transcript of (a document) under seal.
  4. (transitive) To prove by such an attested copy or transcript.

Translations edit

Further reading edit