Exception

How to spell exception

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce exception

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exception mean?

1. nounA person or thing that does not follow a general rule or pattern.

Exception in a sentence

• Every member paid the fee, with no exception for staff.

• The policy applies to all departments without a single exception.

Where does exception come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin exceptio, a noun built on the verb excipere, which literally meant 'to take out' or 'to leave out', formed from ex 'out' and capere 'to take'. In Roman usage it often carried a legal sense, describing a clause that took something out of the general rule. English borrowed it through Old French (excepcion) in the 1300s, keeping the idea of something set apart from a general statement. The same capere root that means 'to take' lives on in a whole family of relatives such as accept, receive, capture, and capable. Because the buried root is cept and not 'sept', the spelling holds a hidden p and t that writers cannot always hear, which is the main trap; the word also follows the regular pattern of -ption seen in 'reception' and 'deception'.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• cept (from capere: to take)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)