Standard Lemma guide

exception

noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /əkˈsɛpʃən/
  • /ɪkˈsɛpʃən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: acception (for pronunciations with schwa)
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 K S EH1 P SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • the exception of a rule

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

That which is excluded from others; a person, thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • That rule is usually true, but there are a few exceptions.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: outlier

Antonyms: commonness, generality

3

noun

Meaning 3

An objection, on legal grounds; also, as in conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts or reserves something before the right is transferred.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: usually followed by to or against

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

An interruption in normal processing, typically caused by an error condition, that can be raised ("thrown") by one part of the program and handled ("caught") by another part.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences

Examples

  • null pointer exception

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To throw an exception.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, intransitive, rare

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a deliberate act of omission

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • with the exception of the children, everyone was told the news

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: exclusion, elision

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: omission

8

noun

Meaning 8

an instance that does not conform to a rule or generalization

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • all her children were brilliant; the only exception was her last child
  • an exception tests the rule

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: example, illustration, instance, representative

9

noun

Meaning 9

grounds for adverse criticism

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his authority is beyond exception

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: objection

Narrower terms: caption

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1éǵh Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h1éǵhs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Latin excipiō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin exceptiōder. Old French excepcion Anglo-Norman excepciounbor. Middle English exception English exception From Middle English exception, excepcioun, from Anglo-Norman excepcioun, from Old French excepcion, from Latin exceptiō. Equivalent to except + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

161 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اِسْتِثْنَاء (istiṯnāʔ) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Belarusian: выключэ́нне (vyključénnje) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Bulgarian: изключе́ние (izključénie) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Bulgarian: изклю́чване (izkljúčvane) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Catalan: excepció — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Chinese Mandarin: 排除 (páichú) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Czech: výjimka — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Danish: undtagelse — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Dutch: uitzondering — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Esperanto: esceptado — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Estonian: erand — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Faroese: undantak — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Finnish: poikkeus — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • German: Ausnahme — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Greek: εξαίρεση (exaíresi) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Hindi: अपवाद (apvād) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Indonesian: pengecualian — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Irish: eisceacht — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Italian: eccezione — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Japanese: 除外 (jogai) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Korean: 제외 (je'oe) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Korean: 례외 (rye'oe) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Malay: pengecualian — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Māori: hāungatanga — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Norwegian Bokmål: aberrasjon — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Portuguese: exceção — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Russian: исключе́ние (isključénije) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Russian: изъя́тие (izʺjátije) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Scottish Gaelic: fàgail a-mach — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Serbo-Croatian: iznimka — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Serbo-Croatian: izuzetak — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Serbo-Croatian: izuzeće — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Slovak: výnimka — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Spanish: excepción — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Spanish: salvedad — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Swedish: undantag — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Turkish: istisna — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Ukrainian: ви́ключення (výključennja) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Ukrainian: ви́лучення (výlučennja) — act of excepting or excluding; exclusion
  • Albanian: përjashtim — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Arabic: اِسْتِثْنَاء (istiṯnāʔ) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Armenian: բացառություն (bacʻaṙutʻyun) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Asturian: esceición — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Azerbaijani: istisna — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Belarusian: вы́нятак (výnjatak) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Bulgarian: изключе́ние (izključénie) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Catalan: excepció — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Chinese Mandarin: 例外 (lìwài) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Czech: výjimka — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Danish: undtagelse — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Dutch: uitzondering — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Esperanto: escepto — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Estonian: erand — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Finnish: poikkeus — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • French: exception — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Galician: excepción — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Georgian: გამონაკლისი (gamonaḳlisi) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • German: Ausnahme — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Greek: εξαίρεση (exaíresi) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Hebrew: יוֹצֵא דֹּפֶן — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Hebrew: יוצא דופן — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Hebrew: חָרִיג — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Hindi: अपवाद (apvād) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Hungarian: kivétel — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Icelandic: undantekning — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Indonesian: pengecualian — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Ingrian: iskljucenija — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Irish: eisceacht — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Italian: eccezione — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Japanese: 例外 (reigai) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Japanese: 殊 (koto) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Kazakh: ерекшелік (erekşelık) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Korean: 예외 (ye'oe) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Korean: 례외 (rye'oe) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Kyrgyz: бөтөнчө (bötöncö) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Kyrgyz: өзгөчө (özgöcö) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Latin: exceptiō — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Latvian: izņēmums — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Lithuanian: išimtis — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Macedonian: исклучок (isklučok) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Malay: pengecualian — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Māori: hāungatanga — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Māori: rerenga — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Norwegian Bokmål: unntak — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Norwegian Bokmål: aberrasjon — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Pashto: استثنا (estesnã) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Iranian Persian: اِسْتِثْنا (estesnâ) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Polish: wyjątek — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Portuguese: exceção — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Romanian: excepție — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Russian: исключе́ние (isključénije) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Scottish Gaelic: fàgail a-mach — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Serbo-Croatian: изузе́так — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Serbo-Croatian: izuzétak — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Serbo-Croatian: iznimka — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Slovak: výnimka — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Slovene: izjema — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Spanish: excepción — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Spanish: salvedad — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Swedish: undantag — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Tajik: истисно (istisno) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Thai: ข้อยกเว้น (kɔ̂ɔ-yók-wén) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Thai: การยกเว้น — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Turkish: istisna — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Ukrainian: ви́няток (výnjatok) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Ukrainian: ви́йняток (výjnjatok) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Urdu: اِسْتِثْنا (istisnā) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Urdu: اِسْتِثْنیٰ (istisnā) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Uyghur: ئىستىسنا (istisna) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Uzbek: istisno — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Vietnamese: lệ ngoại — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Vietnamese: ngoại lệ — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Welsh: eithriad — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Zazaki: istisna — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Zazaki: ciya (diq) — that which is excepted or taken out from others
  • Bulgarian: отво́д (otvód) — (law) an objection
  • Catalan: excepció — (law) an objection
  • Finnish: ehto — (law) an objection
  • Hungarian: kifogás — (law) an objection
  • Hungarian: ellenvetés — (law) an objection
  • Indonesian: pengecualian — (law) an objection
  • Irish: eisceacht — (law) an objection
  • Latin: exceptio — (law) an objection
  • Malay: pengecualian — (law) an objection
  • Russian: отво́д (otvód) — (law) an objection
  • Welsh: gwrthwynebiad — (law) an objection
  • Bulgarian: възраже́ние (vǎzražénie) — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Finnish: kritiikki — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Finnish: vastustus — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Hungarian: ellenvetés — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Hungarian: tiltakozás — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Hungarian: megütközés — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Indonesian: pengecualian — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Russian: возраже́ние (vozražénije) — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Spanish: ofensa — an objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense
  • Arabic: اِسْتِثْنَاء (istiṯnāʔ) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Arabic: خَطَأ (ḵaṭaʔ) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Belarusian: памы́лка (pamýlka) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Bulgarian: гре́шка (gréška) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 異常 /异常 (yìcháng) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Czech: výjimka — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Finnish: poikkeus — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • French: exception — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • German: Ausnahme — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • German: Ausnahmebedingung — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • German: Exception — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Greek: εξαίρεση (exaíresi) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Hungarian: megszakítás — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Hungarian: kivétel — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Indonesian: pengecualian — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Irish: eisceacht — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Japanese: 例外 (reigai) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Korean: 예외 (ye'oe) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Korean: 례외 (rye'oe) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Polish: wyjątek — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Portuguese: exceção — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Portuguese: exception — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Russian: оши́бка (ošíbka) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Turkish: olağandışı durum — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Ukrainian: поми́лка (pomýlka) — computing: an interruption in normal processing
  • Zazaki: weziyeto ecayıb — computing: an interruption in normal processing
Real reading context

exception in complete knowledge articles