Exe Head

River Exe
River
The Exe Estuary from a balloon over Exeter. The M5 motorway is in the foreground, Topsham on the left bank just beyond, and Exmouth at the river mouth opposite Dawlish Warren.
Country	England
Counties	Devon, Somerset
Tributaries
- left	River Haddeo, River Culm, River Clyst
- right	River Barle, River Creedy
City	Exeter
Source	Exe Head
- location	near Simonsbath, Somerset, England
- elevation	440 m (1,444 ft)
- coordinates	51°09′33″N 3°47′12″W / 51.15917°N 3.78667°W / 51.15917; -3.78667
Mouth	Lyme Bay
- location	English Channel
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	50°36′53″N 3°25′30″W / 50.61472°N 3.42500°W / 50.61472; -3.42500Coordinates: 50°36′53″N 3°25′30″W / 50.61472°N 3.42500°W / 50.61472; -3.42500
Discharge	for Thorverton
- average	15.89 m3/s (561 cu ft/s)
- max	492.6 m3/s (17,396 cu ft/s) 4 December 1960
- min	0.44 m3/s (16 cu ft/s) 27 August 1976
Discharge elsewhere (average)
- Stoodleigh	12.41 m3/s (438 cu ft/s)
- Pixton	4.47 m3/s (158 cu ft/s)

The River Exe (/ˈɛks/ EKS) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 miles (96 km) and reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon. Historically, its lowest bridging point was at Exeter, though there is now a viaduct for the M5 motorway about 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of the city centre.

The river's name is an anglicisation of the Latin isca, itself a modified form of a Brittonic root meaning "water" or, more exactly, "abounding in fish". (The same root separately developed into the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk, and the Scottish whisky.) It seems to be a cognate of pysg (pl. of pysgod), the Welsh word for 'fish'. The river gave the name of Exeter ("fortress on the Exe") and many other settlements along its course, including Exford, Up Exe, Nether Exe, Exwick, Exton, Exminster, and Exebridge, where it is joined by the River Barle. The seaside town of Exmouth is at the east side of the estuary mouth, and Dawlish Warren is at the west, with its long sand spit extending across the mouth.