exempt

[ ig-zempt ]

/ ɪgˈzɛmpt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exempt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to free from an obligation or liability to which others are subject; release: to exempt a student from an examination.

adjective

released from, or not subject to, an obligation, liability, etc.: organizations exempt from taxes.

noun

a person who is exempt from an obligation, duty, etc.

(in Britain) exon.

Nearby words

Origin of exempt

1325–75; (adj.) Middle English < Old French < Latin exemptus, past participle of eximere to take out, free, release, equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + emptus (past participle of emere to buy, obtain); (v.) late Middle English exempten < Old French exempter, derivative of exempt

SYNONYMS FOR exempt

1. except, excuse, relieve.

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Related forms

ex·empt·i·ble, adjectivenon·ex·empt, adjective, nounpre·ex·empt, verb (used with object)qua·si-ex·empt, adjective

un·ex·empt, adjectiveun·ex·empt·ed, adjectiveun·ex·empt·i·ble, adjectiveun·ex·empt·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for exempt

Surely, Hollywood should not be exempt from such a standard.
It’s Not Just Cosby: Hollywood’s Long List of Male Scumbags|Asawin Suebsaeng|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Individuals and businesses could exempt themselves from anti-discrimination laws by proffering religious objections to them.
RFRA Madness: What’s Next for Anti-Democratic ‘Religious Exemptions’|Jay Michaelson|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In short, the United States is having a bit of an existential crisis, and no one, not even Hollywood, has been exempt.
Welcome to Snowpiercer’s Apocalypse|Teo Bugbee|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Homeschoolers would likely be exempt, then, but we do need to abolish the Classics Major.
St. Hippolytus’ Careers Christians Should Never Have|Candida Moss|May 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Even show ponies are not exempt from ending up in a narrowing chute that feeds the condemned in single file into the “stun box.”
Central Park’s Carriages Saved This Horse|Michael Daly|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even the city of Philadelphia is not exempt from this moral pestilence.
American Slave Trade|Jesse Torrey
The private property of stockholders shall be exempt from any and all debts of this Corporation.
The Harris-Ingram Experiment|Charles E. Bolton
Although immortal, the gods were not exempt from physical pain.
Myths of Greece and Rome|H. A. Guerber
Were you told that the duties imposed by the ministry were free from every obstacle, exempt from every peril?
The Betrothed|Alessandro Manzoni
He is exempt from taxation and from the payment at least of certain local rates.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5|Various

British Dictionary definitions for exempt

exempt

/ (ɪɡˈzɛmpt) /

verb

(tr) to release from an obligation, liability, tax, etc; excuseto exempt a soldier from drill

adjective (sometimes postpositive)

freed from or not subject to an obligation, liability, tax, etc; excusedexempt gilts; tax-exempt bonus

obsolete set apart; remote

noun

a person who is exempt from an obligation, tax, etc

Derived Formsexemption, noun

Word Origin for exempt

C14: from Latin exemptus removed, from eximere to take out, from emere to buy, obtain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exempt

exempt

adj.

late 14c., from Old French exempt (13c.) and directly from Latin exemptus, past participle of eximere "remove, take out, take away; free, release, deliver, make an exception of," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + emere "buy," originally "take," from PIE root *em- "to take, distribute" (cf. Latin sumere "to take, obtain, buy," Old Church Slavonic imo "to take," Lithuanian imui, Sanskrit yamati "holds, subdues"). For sense shift from "take" to "buy," compare Old English sellan "to give," source of Modern English sell "to give in exchange for money;" Hebrew laqah "he bought," originally "he took;" and colloquial English I'll take it for "I'll buy it."

exempt

mid-15c., from Middle French exempter, from exempt (adj.); see exempt (adj.). Related: Exempted; exempting.

exempt

verb (used with object)

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of exempt

Examples from the Web for exempt

exempt

verb

adjective (sometimes postpositive)

noun

Word Origin for exempt

exempt

exempt