except

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪkˈsept/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English excepte,^[2] borrowed from Old French excepté or directly borrowed from Latin exceptus,^[2][3] the past participle of excipere (“to take out, withdraw; make an exception”),^[4][3] from ex- (“out”) and capere (“to take”),^[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[4][3] The verb, Middle English excepten, is from Middle French excepter, from Latin exceptāre.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a preposition, “with the exclusion of”: about 1378, in a version of Piers Plowman;^[2] the OED's first quotation is from 1377.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English except was a participle, “excepted”, which often stood before the noun, and in that position it gradually came to work as a preposition.^[2][6] It is a conjunction, “unless”, from before 1387.^[2][4] The verb is from before 1393, in Gower;^[2] it first meant “to receive”, a frequent sense of Latin excipere, now obsolete,^[4][6] and “to leave out” from 1530^[6] or the 1510s.^[4] “To object” is from 1577, surviving in take exception.^[6]

Timeline

• 1377 – preposition, other than.^[6]
• before 1387 – conjunction, unless.^[2]
• before 1393 – verb, to receive.^[2][6]
• 1530 – verb, to leave out.^[6]
• 1549 – excepting.^[2]
• 1577 – verb, to object.^[6]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. Other than; but: everyone except me.

Conjunction

1. Only; were it not for the fact that.
2. (archaic) unless.

Verb

1. To leave out; to exclude.
2. (rare) To object.

Word family

• exceptive
• exceptable
• except for

Related words

• exception
• excipient
• exceptional
• excepting
• accept
• capture
• captive
• receive

Usage notes

Except is sometimes confused with accept, which comes from the same Latin verb with a different prefix.^[7][4] In Scots except at meant “to take exception to”.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)