excepted

IPA/ɛksˈɛptɪd/

KK[ɪksˈɛptɪd]IPA/ɪksˈɛptɪd/

1.adjectiveC1

Definition

left out of a group or list that is being mentioned, usually placed straight after the noun it refers to.

Example

Every staff member, the night cleaners excepted, joined the company lunch on Friday.

postpositive: [noun] excepted, after a comma

All paintings in the gallery, two small sketches excepted, were sold by the end of the show.

postpositive after a noun phrase in writing

Common collocations

present company excepted
Sundays excepted
[noun] excepted,

Synonyms

excluded
more neutral and far more common; works before or after the noun
omitted
stresses the act of leaving out, often by mistake
barring
informal preposition used before the noun, similar meaning

Antonyms

included
direct opposite

Grammar Patterns

[noun] excepted

Usage Note

Almost always postpositive (placed after the noun, set off by commas) and limited to formal writing or careful speech. In everyday speech, learners should prefer 'except for [noun]' or 'apart from [noun]' before the noun instead.

Common Mistakes

The excepted students stayed home.

The students excepted from the trip stayed home.

'excepted' does not sit before a noun like a normal adjective; it follows the noun and usually takes 'from'.

Sundays are excepted from open.

Sundays excepted, we open every day.

use the bare postpositive form, not a 'be excepted from' passive with the wrong complement.

1.prepositionC2

Definition

an old-fashioned, formal way of saying 'except for' — used before a noun to leave one or more things out of what is being said.

Example

Every guest, excepted the bride's uncle, arrived at the church before noon.

formal: excepted + noun phrase, equivalent to 'except for'

All roads in the valley remained open, excepted the bridge near the old mill.

Common collocations

excepted [name]
excepted [day of the week]

Synonyms

except for
the standard modern equivalent in everyday English
apart from
neutral register, very common
barring
slightly formal; often used about future possibilities

Antonyms

including
direct opposite

Grammar Patterns

excepted + noun phrase

Usage Note

Mainly found in older or very formal writing; modern English nearly always uses 'except' or 'except for' instead. Learners should recognise this use when reading but rarely need it in their own writing.

Common Mistakes

Excepted he is tired, the runner is fine.

Apart from being tired, the runner is fine.

preposition 'excepted' takes a noun phrase, not a clause.

2.prepositionC2

Definition

used in contracts, insurance policies, or property deeds to mark a person, item, or risk as deliberately left outside what the document covers.

Example

Damage from flooding was excepted from the household policy that Sirin signed in April.

passive: be excepted from [policy / coverage]

The deed excepted a narrow path along the river, so neighbours could still reach the lake.

active: [document] excepted [item] from [scope]

Common collocations

excepted from coverage
excepted from the policy
excepted from the deed

Synonyms

excluded
the everyday modern equivalent in contracts and policies
exempted
stresses being officially freed from a rule or duty

Antonyms

covered
specifically for insurance / policy contexts
included
general opposite

Grammar Patterns

excepted from [policy / contract / coverage]

Usage Note

Restricted to legal, insurance, and property writing. The matching active verb is 'except' (sense 1 of the verb), and learners more often meet the passive form 'be excepted from'.

Common Mistakes

The roof is excepted by the insurance.

The roof is excepted from the insurance.

use 'from', not 'by', to name what the item is taken out of.

1.verbtransitiveC1

Definition

past tense and past participle of 'except', meaning that a person or thing was deliberately left out of a group, a rule, or a decision.

Example

Christopher excepted two students from the surprise quiz because they had been absent the day before.

active: subject + excepted + object + from + [scope]

Children under five were excepted from the entrance fee at the science museum on weekends.

passive: be excepted from [requirement]

Common collocations

excepted from the rule
excepted from the test
excepted from the policy

Synonyms

exclude
the standard everyday verb in modern English
exempt
official release from a rule, tax, or duty
omit
leave out, often by accident or to save space

Antonyms

include
direct opposite
incorporate
add into a larger whole

Grammar Patterns

except + object + from + noun phrase

be excepted from + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently passive ('be excepted from'), and almost always paired with 'from' to name the rule, group, or scope that the person or item is taken out of. Far more formal than 'leave out' or 'not include'.

Common Mistakes

The teacher excepted the rule for him.

The teacher excepted him from the rule.

the object is the person/thing left out; the rule comes after 'from'.

Two items were excepted of the list.

Two items were excepted from the list.

the preposition is 'from', never 'of'.

2.verbintransitiveC2

Definition

past tense of 'except' meaning that someone stated a clear objection or disagreement with something said, written, or proposed, usually in a formal setting.

Example

Reuben excepted to the lawyer's question and asked the judge to remove it from the record.

active: subject + excepted + to + [statement / proposal]

Several board members excepted to the new dress code at the meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

formal register; closest modern phrase is 'take exception to'

Common collocations

excepted to the claim
excepted to the question
excepted to the proposal

Synonyms

objected
the standard modern verb
protested
stronger; suggests open, public disagreement
demurred
very formal; mild, polite objection

Antonyms

agreed
direct opposite
accepted
received without protest

Grammar Patterns

excepted to + noun phrase

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is intransitive and pairs with 'to' (the thing objected to), while sense 1 is transitive and pairs with 'from' (the group someone is taken out of). Modern English almost always uses 'object to' or 'take exception to' instead.

Common Mistakes

Sana excepted the new plan.

Sana excepted to the new plan.

this sense needs 'to' before the thing objected to.

Reuben excepted from the lawyer's question.

Reuben excepted to the lawyer's question.

'from' is sense 1 (leave out); 'to' is sense 2 (object).

1.conjunctionC2

Definition

an old-fashioned, formal use meaning 'on no other condition than' or 'unless' — used to introduce a clause that limits what was just said.

Example

The villagers will not move from their land, excepted the river floods again this winter.

introduces a conditional clause; equivalent to 'unless'

Heloísa refuses to sing in public, excepted her grandmother asks her to.

Common collocations

excepted [subject + verb clause]

Synonyms

unless
the standard modern equivalent
except that
still found in writing; less archaic

Grammar Patterns

excepted + (that-)clause

Usage Note

Belongs to older literary English; modern writers use 'unless'. Recognise this sense when reading nineteenth-century or earlier texts.

Common Mistakes

Excepted the river to flood, we stay.

Excepted the river floods, we stay.

this sense introduces a full clause, not a 'to'-infinitive.

2.conjunctionC2

Definition

an old-fashioned use meaning roughly 'with this one exception, that' — used to add a single point that does not fit the general statement just made.

Example

Élise loved every chapter of the long novel, excepted the ending felt sudden and unfair to her.

adds a single exception to a general statement; archaic

The plan worked smoothly all week, excepted the printer broke down on Thursday afternoon.

Common collocations

[main clause], excepted [contrast clause]

Synonyms

except that
the standard modern equivalent
save that
also formal and archaic

Grammar Patterns

main clause, excepted + clause

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: that sense states a condition for the main clause to hold, while this sense names one specific item that contradicts the main clause. Modern writers nearly always use 'except (that)' instead.

Common Mistakes

The food was good, excepted bad service.

The food was good, excepted the service was slow.

this sense joins a full clause, not a bare noun phrase.

3.conjunctionC2

Definition

in older or dialect English, used to mean 'only' or 'were it not that' — limiting what was just said with a single qualifying point.

Example

The cottage would be sold by now, excepted the back wall still needs serious repair.

archaic 'only' / 'were it not that' use

Sana would walk to school every morning, excepted her shoes have grown far too tight.

Common collocations

[main clause], excepted [qualifying clause]

Synonyms

only
in the sense of 'were it not that'
except that
modern equivalent in writing

Grammar Patterns

excepted + clause

Usage Note

Very rare and chiefly literary or regional. Most modern speakers would use 'only' or 'except that' here. Listed for completeness; learners do not need to produce this form.

Common Mistakes

The plan worked excepted snow.

The plan worked, excepted heavy snow stopped the trucks.

this sense introduces a full clause.

Word family

except
verbB2
except
prepositionA2
exception
nounB2
exceptional
adjectiveB2
exceptionally
adverbB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs leave something out of a larger group, but they differ in register and in what is left out. 'Except' (and its past form 'excepted') is the most formal and is mostly seen in legal, official, or careful written English: 'children under five were excepted from the fee'. 'Exclude' is the standard everyday choice and works in almost any context — schools, contracts, conversation, lists. 'Exempt' is narrower: someone is officially freed from a rule, a payment, or a duty, often by a person in authority — 'students with proof of illness are exempt from the exam'. 'Omit' usually means simply not putting something in, often by accident or to save space — 'the report omitted the team's names'. In short: choose 'omit' for a missing item, 'exclude' for the neutral default, 'exempt' for an official release from a duty, and 'except/excepted' only when the register clearly calls for it.

except ↗exclude ↗exempt ↗omit ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

the rule excepted
the policy excepted
the contract excepted

Adverbs

specifically excepted
expressly excepted
wholly excepted

Phrases

present company excepted
Sundays excepted
all things excepted

Prepositions

excepted from
excepted to

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Comes from the Latin verb 'excipere', a compound of 'ex-' meaning 'out' and 'capere' meaning 'to take' — so the core image is 'to take out'. The form entered English through Old French 'excepter' in the late Middle Ages, first as the verb 'except'; the past participle 'excepted' then took on its own life as an adjective ('the night cleaners excepted'), a preposition ('excepted the bridge'), and even a conjunction ('excepted you push hard') in older English. Most of those uses are now archaic; only the verb and the postpositive adjective survive in modern writing, while everyday English has shifted to 'except for', 'apart from', and 'unless'.

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excepted

excepted — adjective

1. left out of a group or list that is being mentioned, usually placed straight aft

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

excepted — preposition

1. an old-fashioned, formal way of saying 'except for' — used before a noun to leav

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

2. used in contracts, insurance policies, or property deeds to mark a person, item,

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

excepted — verb

1. past tense and past participle of 'except', meaning that a person or thing was d

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

2. past tense of 'except' meaning that someone stated a clear objection or disagree

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

excepted — conjunction

1. an old-fashioned, formal use meaning 'on no other condition than' or 'unless' —

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

2. an old-fashioned use meaning roughly 'with this one exception, that' — used to a

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

3. in older or dialect English, used to mean 'only' or 'were it not that' — limitin

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

Word family

Synonym discussion

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

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