exist: [17] The ‘existential’ use of exist is a secondary development; to begin with it had the more concrete meaning ‘stand out, so as to be perceptible’. It comes from Latin existere, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and sistere ‘be placed, stand firm or still’ (a distant relative of English stand). Its original sense ‘stand out, stand forth’ developed through ‘emerge’ and ‘be visible’ to ‘exist’. The available evidence suggests that it entered English at a surprisingly late date, some centuries after the derivative existence [14] (of which the English verb may be a backformation). => stand, statue
