Amos, in the "Cultural Losses" thread (Click Here), gives an etymology of the word education as coming from Latin ex (from, out of) and ducere (to lead). I have also seen the same sentiment in (an)other thread(s). Now, since there's a perfectly good Latin word, educare (to educate), I think that even Amos would not disagree that this is the primary root of education. So, if his original thesis (about ex ducere) is correct, then the conclusion is that educare itself derives from ex ducere. The OED gives some support to this, but is there any evidence for it?

My knowledge of language development is sketchy (to say the least), so what I say in this paragraph is surmise, and I'm happy to accept correction from the learned: Wouldn't the progression from ex ducere be to educere? And from what is education "leading out" (ignorance, presumably)? I would have thought that leading into would be more appropriate. Are we not falling into the same trap as the man I've just invented as an example, who thought that the ancients used to bang nails in with a leg of pork (from the similarity in appearance of the words "ham" and "hammer")? Is it not equally possible that ducere and educare have only the flimsiest relationships, but that 20th-century educators seized on the similarity of the two words to make a false connection because it chimed with their liberal philosophy of education?

(Amos: I'm not trying to get at you; please come up with any evidence you have on the etymology.)