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ex·cept (ĭk-sĕpt)
Share:
prep.
With the exclusion of; other than; but: everyone except me.
conj.
1. If it were not for the fact that; only. Often used with that: I would buy the suit, except that it costs too much.
2. Otherwise than: They didn't open their mouths except to complain.
3. Archaic 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.
Idiom:
except for
Were it not for: I would join you except for my cold.
[Middle English, from Latin exceptus, past participle of excipere, to exclude : ex-, ex- + capere, to take; see kap- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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