Etymologically
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exemption

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪɡˈzɛm(p).ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English exempcioun,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French exemption,[5][2][6][7] or directly from Latin exemptiō (“a taking out, removal”);[2][6][7][8] the MED gives Anglo-Norman and Latin as its sources,[4] and Merriam-Webster names Middle French exemption or Medieval Latin exemptiō.[3] The Latin noun of action is formed on exemptus, the past participle of eximō (“to take out, remove; to free, release”),[2][5][9] from ex- (“out”) and emō (“to buy”), whose original sense was "to take", from Proto-Indo-European *em- (“to take, distribute”).[2] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1347–48, for a dispensation from an obligation.[10] It is the noun of exempt.[7][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Freedom from a liability, obligation, penalty, law or authority, or the act of granting it: about 1380, in Wyclif.[5] Etymonline dates the word to about 1400, in the sense of immunity from a law or statute.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word was used above all of the exemption from civil law that the Church enjoyed, and of release from monastic rules.[4] From the 15th century it was also a technical term of the Church: a privilege by which persons or places were removed from the jurisdiction of the ordinary and placed directly under the Holy See (first record before 1464, in Capgrave).[5][3] In the 16th century the word could also mean an exception or exclusion from a list (before 1538 to 1670) and the action of taking something out (1598–1610), senses closer to the Latin, which are now obsolete.[5] From the 17th century it was used of freedom from a defect or weakness (before 1662).[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "immunity; privilege; freedom from imposts or burdensome employments".[11] The modern financial sense, an amount of income on which no tax is paid, for instance for a dependant, is recorded in Merriam-Webster,[3] and attributive uses date from 1898.[5]

Timeline

  • 1347–48 – Anglo-Norman exemption, dispensation from an obligation.[10]
  • c. 1380 – freedom from a liability, obligation, law or authority.[5]
  • c. 1400 – exempcioun, immunity from a law or statute.[2]
  • before 1464 – a church privilege placing persons or places directly under the Holy See.[5]
  • before 1538 – exception or exclusion from a list (obsolete by 1670).[5]
  • 1598 – the action of taking out or away (obsolete by 1610).[5]
  • before 1662 – freedom from a defect or weakness.[5]
  • 1898 – attributive use.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of exempting someone or something, or the state of being exempt; freedom from a duty, charge or obligation that others must meet: an exemption from jury service.[3][5][7]
  2. Something that exempts; especially, an amount of income not subject to tax, allowed for instance for a dependant.[3]
  3. Freedom from a defect, disadvantage or weakness.[5][7]
  4. (Roman Catholic Church) Release of a person or place from the jurisdiction of the ordinary, so that it is subject only to the Holy See.[3][5]

Word family

  • exemptive
  • nonexemption

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes exemption, immunity and impunity, which all imply freedom from what is imposed on others: exemption is release from a duty or tax, immunity freedom from a penalty or from something threatening such as a disease, and impunity, mostly in the phrase with impunity, freedom from punishment.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.