except English · revision 3298

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1378, Piers Plowman|origins=la capere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪkˈsept/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|excepte]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|excepté]] or directly [[bor|la|exceptus]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) the past participle of [[m|la|excipere|t=to take out, withdraw; make an exception]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) from [[m|la|ex-|t=out]] and [[m|la|capere|t=to take]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*kap-|t=to grasp]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) The verb, Middle English excepten, is from Middle French excepter, from Latin exceptāre.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a preposition, “with the exclusion of”: about 1378, in a version of ''Piers Plowman'';^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's first quotation is from 1377.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) It is a conjunction, “unless”, from before 1387.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb is from before 1393, in Gower;^(Barnhart 1988) it first meant “to receive”, a frequent sense of Latin excipere, now obsolete,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and “to leave out” from 1530^(OED 1989) or the 1510s.^(Etymonline) “To object” is from 1577, surviving in ''take exception''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1377 – preposition, other than.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1387 – conjunction, unless.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1393 – verb, to receive.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1530 – verb, to leave out.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1549 – ''excepting''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1577 – verb, to object.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # Other than; but: ''everyone except me''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # Only; were it not for the fact that.^(AHD)

+ # ''(archaic)'' [[unless]].^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To leave out; to [[exclude]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(rare)'' To object.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) In Scots ''except at'' meant “to take exception to”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}