Excuse

How to spell excuse

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce excuse

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does excuse mean?

1. verbTo forgive a fault, or to release someone from a duty or obligation.
2. nounA reason or explanation offered to justify a fault or to gain release from an obligation.

Excuse in a sentence

• verb

  The teacher agreed to excuse him from the afternoon session.

• noun

  He gave a feeble excuse for missing the deadline.

• verb

  Please excuse the late reply; the office was closed all week.

• noun

  There is no excuse for leaving the gate unlocked overnight.

Where does excuse come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Excuse comes from the Latin verb excusare, which was built from ex, meaning 'out' or 'away', and causa, meaning 'cause', 'reason', or 'legal accusation'. Literally it meant 'to free someone from a charge' or 'to clear away the accusation against them', a sense rooted firmly in the Roman courtroom. The word travelled into English through Old French escuser in the 1200s, gradually softening from the strictly legal idea of clearing blame to the everyday notions of offering a reason or asking pardon. The same causa root sits visibly inside 'accuse' and 'cause', which is a useful reminder that the central letters are c-u-s, not the c-c that trips some writers. Notice too that English keeps two pronunciations from a single spelling: the noun ends in a soft 's' sound while the verb ends in a 'z' sound.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, away)
• -cuse (from Latin causa: cause, accusation)