exemption
(ɛgˈzɛm(p)ʃən)
Forms: 4–5 exempcion, -coun, (6 -tioun), 6– exemption.
[a. Fr. exemption, ad. L. exemptiōn-em, n. of action f. eximĕre to exempt.]
The action of exempting; the state of being exempted.
† 1. a. The action of taking out or away; the state of being taken out or away. b. Exception, exclusion from an enumeration, etc. Obs.
| a. 1598 Rowlands Betraying of Christ 44 By death of Christ, the Law was in exemption. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry ii. iii. (1611) 42 Adumbration or Transparency is a cleere exemption of the substance of the charge. |
| b. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 139 Thys exemptyon..ys to be gyven to the dygnyte of presthod. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 70 The Cardinals should be chosen out of all the Provinces..without exemption of any. |
2. a. The action of exempting, or the state of being exempted (see
exempt v. 4) from a liability, obligation, penalty, law, or authority; freeing, freedom; an instance of the same, an immunity.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 93 He schal geten a priueilege or exempcion..for his gold sent & spendid at rome. 1488–9 Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 5 This acte of adnullacion..of exempcions of payment or colleccion of dismes. 1578 Gude & Godl. Ball. 77 Our tungis hes ane exemptioun. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxi. 109 We take Liberty, for an exemption from Lawes. 1656 Bramhall Replic. iv. 189 King Henries exemption of himself from all spirituall jurisdiction. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 115 Thy great Father..requires Glory from all men..no exemption. 1705 Burnet Own Time v. (1734) II. 158 An exemption for twenty one years from all Taxes and Customs. 1742 Young Nt. Th. v. 262 Genius..pleads exemption from the laws of sense. 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. s.v., A writ of exemption, or of ease, to be quit of serving on juries, and all public service. 1825 Bentham Ration. Rew. 14 An exemption from punishment already incurred, is a pardon. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. 172 Some [boroughs] bought charters of exemption from the troublesome privilege [of sending burgesses to parliament]. |
b. spec. ‘A privilege by which persons or places are withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the ordinary and immediately subjected to the Holy See’ (
Catholic Dict. 1885).
| 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 167 There was the Provincial of the ordre alegging for him here exempcion. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. 145 He complains..of the exemption of Abbats from their Bishops. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The first exemptions granted to monks were only for the liberty of electing their abbot, independently on the bishop. 1868 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 7 He protests especially against exemptions. |
3. Freedom, immunity
from a defect, disadvantage, or weakness.
| a 1662 Heylin Laud i. (1671) 53 Humane frailty from which the holiest and most Learned men cannot plead Exemption. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 105 ¶ 5 The Men who value themselves most on their Exemption from the Pedantry of Colleges. 1784 Cowper Task i. 404 Even age itself seems privileged in them With clear exemption from its own defects. 1842 H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. I. 7 A tolerable exemption from faults..will generally be their highest merit. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xxiv. (1856) 199 Water free from ice; the exemption being due to the island..acting as a barrier. 1884 Q. Rev. Apr. 350 A singular exemption from the ferocious forms of life. |
† 4. concr. (see
quot.)
Obs. rare—1.
| a 1610 Healey Theophrastus To Rdr., Pomœrium is a certaine space about the walls of the City or Towne..where 'tis not lawfull to plough, build houses, or inhabite..termed the territorie, or exemption. |
5. attrib. (sense 2).
| 1898 Daily News 5 July 2/5 Under the exemption clauses of the Acts. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 16 Aug. 2/3 Exemption certificates. 1909 Englishwoman Apr. 286 The Home Secretary's withdrawal of the Exemption Order. |