Obs. [f. L. exantlāt- ppl. stem of exantlāre to draw out (a liquid).
The etymology of the L. word is disputed; some, relying on the variant spelling exanclare (which seems to be the better attested of the two), consider it to be f. ex- out + anculus servant, so that the primary sense would be ‘to draw (water, etc.) as a servant.’ Others regard the word as ad. Gr. ἐξαντλεῖν to pump out, empty (liquids), f. ἐξ out + ἄιτλος hold of a ship. In any case the fig. use of exantlare or exanclare for ‘to endure to the uttermost’ must have been suggested by the precisely similar use of the Gr. word.]
1. trans. To draw out as from a well.
c. 1650. Charleton, cited by Blount, Glossogr. (1656) [cf. quot. 1650 s.v. EXANTLATION].
2. To waste away, spend, exhaust. Also refl.
1660–3. Boyle, Usef. Nal. Phil., II. v. Acid or saline liquors, which … soon coagulate, or exantlate themselves by working, and thereby become unfit for future operations. Ibid. (1661), Scept. Chem., II. 117. By time those seeds are Weari’d or Exantlated, or unable to Act their Parts upon the Stage of the Universe any Longer.
