exercised

Exercised is the past tense and past participle of the verb exercise. It denotes the act of performing physical activity to improve fitness, strength, or health, as in “she exercised for thirty minutes.” It can also describe the act of using or applying something, such as rights, authority, or power, as in “the governor exercised his emergency powers” or “she exercised her voting rights.”

Etymology traces exercised to the Latin exercere, meaning to train, keep in practice, or employ, which passed into Old French and then into English through the verb exercise. The word has retained both senses related to physical activity and to the use or application of capacity or control.

In usage, exercised appears in fitness and rehabilitation contexts to indicate completed activities, for example, “he exercised regularly.” It also appears in legal, political, and administrative contexts to describe the use of rights or authority, as in “the committee exercised its oversight” or “the patient exercised his right to refuse treatment.” The term is often contrasted with “exercise” (the act itself) and with phrases like “to be exercising,” which emphasizes ongoing action.

Common related forms include exercise (noun and base verb), exercising (present participle), and the phrases “to exercise a right,” “to exercise discretion,” and “to exercise power.” The word is neutral in tone and widely used across fitness, legal, and organizational contexts.