Exemption
/ɪɡˈzɛmp.ʃən/noun
The act of being freed from an obligation, rule, or duty.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor, eximere, combines ex- (“out”) + emere (“to take, buy”), the same root behind words tied to taking and exchange, so exemption literally began as something pulled out of the system.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*em-
“to take, seize, or buy”
Latin
Latin
emere
“to take, buy”
Latin
Latin
eximere
“to take out, remove, release”
Late Latin
Latin
exemptio
“an act of taking out or freeing from duty”
Old French
Old French
exemption
“freedom from an obligation or service”
Modern English
English
exemption
“freedom from an obligation, tax, or rule”