To exclude; to specify as being an exception.
"Everyone was invited to the party except John, who had already left for vacation."
In plain English: To except something as an exception means to leave it out from a general rule or group.
"I invited everyone to the party except John."
Usage: Use "except" only when you are deliberately excluding someone or something from a general statement by specifying them as an outlier. It functions like saying "to leave out," whereas most other negative words do not work this way.
with the exception of; but.
"Everyone in the office was tired except Sarah, who had just taken a nap during her lunch break."
With the exception (that); used to introduce a clause, phrase or adverb forming an exception or qualification to something previously stated.
"Everyone arrived on time except that Sarah was stuck in traffic."
The word comes from the Middle French excepter, which was borrowed from the Latin exceptus. It entered English with its current meaning of excluding something from a general rule or group.