except for, if it were not for: She would travel more except for lack of money.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME: orig., ptp. adj. < L exceptus (ptp. of excipere to take out), equiv. to ex-ex-1+ -ceptus (comb. form of captus, ptp. of capere to take)]
—Synonyms 1.Except (more rarely excepting), but,save point out something excluded from a general statement. Except emphasizes the excluding: Take any number except 12. But merely states the exclusion: We ate all but one. Save is now mainly found in poetic use: nothing in sight save sky and sea.
ex·ceptAudio Help (ĭk-sěpt') Pronunciation Key
prep.
With the exclusion of; other than; but: everyone except me.
conj.
If it were not for the fact that; only. Often used with that:I would buy the suit, except that it costs too much.
Otherwise than: They didn't open their mouths except to complain.
Unless: "And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st/Except it be to pray against thy foes"(Shakespeare).
v.
ex·cept·ed, ex·cept·ing, ex·cepts
v.
tr.
To leave out; exclude: An admission fee is charged, but children are excepted.
v.
intr.
To object: Counsel excepted to the court's ruling.
[Middle English, from Latin exceptus, past participle of excipere, to exclude : ex-, ex- + capere, to take; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Except in the sense of "with the exclusion of" or "other than" is generally viewed as a preposition, not a conjunction. Therefore, a personal pronoun that follows except should be in the objective case: No one except me knew it. Everyone had a ticket except her.
1377, from L. exceptus, pp. of excipere "take out," from ex- "out" + capere "to take" (see capable). Adjectival function led to use as a preposition, conjunction. To take exception is from excipere being used in Roman law as a modern attorney would say objection.Exceptional was formed 1846.
take exception to; "he demurred at my suggestion to work on Saturday" [syn: demur]
2.
prevent from being included or considered or accepted; "The bad results were excluded from the report"; "Leave off the top piece" [syn: exclude] [ant: include]
But\ (b[u^]t), prep., adv. & conj. [OE. bute, buten, AS. b[=u]tan, without, on the outside, except, besides; pref. be- + [=u]tan outward, without, fr. [=u]t out. Primarily, b[=u]tan, as well as [=u]t, is an adverb. [root]198. See By, Out; cf. About.]1. Except with; unless with; without. [Obs.] So insolent that he could not go but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors. --Fuller. Touch not the cat but a glove. --Motto of the Mackintoshes. 2. Except; besides; save. Who can it be, ye gods! but perjured Lycon? --E. Smith. Note: In this sense, but is often used with other particles; as, but for, without, had it not been for. "Uncreated but for love divine." --Young. 3. Excepting or excluding the fact that; save that; were it not that; unless; -- elliptical, for but that. And but my noble Moor is true of mind . . . it were enough to put him to ill thinking. --Shak. 4. Otherwise than that; that not; -- commonly, after a negative, with that. It cannot be but nature hath some director, of infinite power, to guide her in all her ways. --Hooker. There is no question but the king of Spain will reform most of the abuses. --Addison. 5. Only; solely; merely. Observe but how their own principles combat one another. --Milton. If they kill us, we shall but die. --2 Kings vii. 4. A formidable man but to his friends. --Dryden. 6. On the contrary; on the other hand; only; yet; still; however; nevertheless; more; further; -- as connective of sentences or clauses of a sentence, in a sense more or less exceptive or adversative; as, the House of Representatives passed the bill, but the Senate dissented; our wants are many, but quite of another kind. Now abideth faith hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. --1 Cor. xiii. 13. When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom. --Prov. xi. 2. All but. See under All. But and if, but if; an attempt on the part of King James's translators of the Bible to express the conjunctive and adversative force of the Greek ?. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; . . . the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him. --Luke xii. 45, 46. But if, unless. [Obs.] --Chaucer. But this I read, that but if remedy Thou her afford, full shortly I her dead shall see. --Spenser. Syn: But, However, Still. Usage: These conjunctions mark opposition in passing from one thought or topic to another. But marks the opposition with a medium degree of strength; as, this is not winter, but it is almost as cold; he requested my assistance, but I shall not aid him at present. However is weaker, and throws the opposition (as it were) into the background; as, this is not winter; it is, however, almost as cold; he required my assistance; at present, however, I shall not afford him aid. The plan, however, is still under consideration, and may yet be adopted. Still is stronger than but, and marks the opposition more emphatically; as, your arguments are weighty; still they do not convince me. See Except, However. Note: "The chief error with but is to use it where and is enough; an error springing from the tendency to use strong words without sufficient occasion." --Bain.
Ex*cept"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Excepted; p. pr. & vb. n. Excepting.] [L. exceptus, p. p. of excipere to take or draw out, to except; ex out + capere to take: cf. F. excepter. See Capable.]1. To take or leave out (anything) from a number or a whole as not belonging to it; to exclude; to omit. Who never touched The excepted tree. --Milton. Wherein (if we only except the unfitness of the judge) all other things concurred. --Bp. Stillingfleet. 2. To object to; to protest against. [Obs.] --Shak.
Ex*cept"\, v. i. To take exception; to object; -- usually followed by to, sometimes by against; as, to except to a witness or his testimony. Except thou wilt except against my love. --Shak.
Ex*cept"\, prep. [Originally past participle, or verb in the imperative mode.] With exclusion of; leaving or left out; excepting. God and his Son except, Created thing naught valued he nor . . . shunned. --Milton. Syn: Except, Excepting, But, Save, Besides. Usage: Excepting, except, but, and save are exclusive. Except marks exclusion more pointedly. "I have finished all the letters except one," is more marked than "I have finished all the letters but one." Excepting is the same as except, but less used. Save is chiefly found in poetry. Besides (lit., by the side of) is in the nature of addition. "There is no one here except or but him," means, take him away and there is nobody present. "There is nobody here besides him," means, hi is present and by the side of, or in addition to, him is nobody. "Few ladies, except her Majesty, could have made themselves heard." In this example, besides should be used, not except.
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