Etymograph

English

exception

Exception comes from Middle English exception, from Anglo-Norman excepcioun, from Old French excepcion, from Latin exceptiō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexceptiō1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400excepcion1
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400excepcioun1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exception1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2012exception1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English exception
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2012, Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: “The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had abolished…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexceptiōWiktionary, English exception
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400excepcionWiktionary, English exception
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400excepciounWiktionary, English exception
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exceptionWiktionary, English exception
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2012exceptionWiktionary, English exception. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2012, Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: “The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had abolished…”

Every English word from Latin exceptiō

Today it means

noun The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “exception”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin exceptiō / exception

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