# exist

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɛɡˈzɪst/ · frequency rank #1,897

## Definitions
1. to be; have existence; have being or reality

## Etymology
From French exister, from Latin existō, exsistō (“I am, I exist, appear, arise”), from ex (“out”) + sistere (“to set, place”) (related to stare (“to stand, to be stood”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti, from the root *steh₂- (“stand”); see stand. Compare assist, consist, desist, insist, persist, resist. Cognate with Spanish existir, French exister, Italian esistere, German existieren.

## Easily confused with
- **exit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exist-vs-exit)
- **expat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exist-vs-expat)
- **exists** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exist-vs-exists)
- **existed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exist-vs-existed)
- **est** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/est-vs-exist)
- **Eis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eis-vs-exist)
- **east** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/east-vs-exist)
- **edit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/edit-vs-exist)
- **emit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/emit-vs-exist)
- **exes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exes-vs-exist)
- **exact** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exact-vs-exist)
- **exile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exile-vs-exist)
- **Ernst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ernst-vs-exist)
- **exert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exert-vs-exist)
- **Elise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/elise-vs-exist)
- **edict** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/edict-vs-exist)
- **Elisa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/elisa-vs-exist)
- **evict** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/evict-vs-exist)
- **exalt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/exalt-vs-exist)
- **enlist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/enlist-vs-exist)

## Common misspellings (7)
`eixst`, `exisst`, `existt`, `exits`, `exsit`, `exxist`, `xeist`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/exist