Definition: exception

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

exception
     n 1: a deliberate act of omission; "with the exception of the
          children, everyone was told the news" [syn: exclusion,
           elision]
     2: an instance that does not conform to a rule or
        generalization; "all her children were brilliant; the only
        exception was her last child"; "an exception tests the
        rule"
     3: grounds for adverse criticism; "his authority is beyond
        exception"

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Exception \Ex*cep"tion\, n. [L. exceptio: cf. F. exception.]
   1. The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction
      by taking out something which would otherwise be included,
      as in a class, statement, rule.

   2. That which is excepted or taken out from others; a person,
      thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included;
      as, almost every general rule has its exceptions.

            Such rare exceptions, shining in the dark, Prove,
            rather than impeach, the just remark. --Cowper.

   Note: Often with to.

               That proud exception to all nature's laws.
                                                  --Pope.

   3. (Law) An objection, oral or written, taken, in the course
      of an action, as to bail or security; or as to the
      decision of a judge, in the course of a trail, or in his
      charge to a jury; or as to lapse of time, or scandal,
      impertinence, or insufficiency in a pleading; also, as in
      conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts
      something before granted. --Burrill.

   4. An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense;
      cause of offense; -- usually followed by to or against.

            I will never answer what exceptions they can have
            against our account [relation].       --Bentley.

            He . . . took exception to the place of their
            burial.                               --Bacon.

            She takes exceptions at your person.  --Shak.

   Bill of exceptions (Law), a statement of exceptions to the
      decision, or instructions of a judge in the trial of a
      cause, made for the purpose of putting the points decided
      on record so as to bring them before a superior court or
      the full bench for review.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)

exception

   An error condition that changes the normal flow of control
   in a program.  An exception may be generated ("raised") by
   hardware or software.  Hardware exceptions include
   reset, interrupt or a signal from a memory management
   unit.  Exceptions may be generated by the arithmetic logic
   unit or floating-point unit for numerical errors such as
   divide by zero, overflow or underflow or instruction
   decoding errors such as privileged, reserved, trap or
   undefined instructions.  Software exceptions are even more
   varied and the term could be applied to any kind of error
   checking which alters the normal behaviour of the program.

   (1994-10-31)

EXCEPTION, n.  A thing which takes the liberty to differ from other
things of its class, as an honest man, a truthful woman, etc.  "The
exception proves the rule" is an expression constantly upon the lips
of the ignorant, who parrot it from one another with never a thought
of its absurdity.  In the Latin, "_Exceptio probat regulam_" means
that the exception _tests_ the rule, puts it to the proof, not
_confirms_ it.  The malefactor who drew the meaning from this
excellent dictum and substituted a contrary one of his own exerted an
evil power which appears to be immortal.