Meaning & use
exemption
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Official freedom from a rule, duty or payment that other people must follow or pay.
Grammar: Usually followed by from: an exemption from tax.
Patterns
- exemption from something
- exemption for someone
- an exemption to something
Students on low incomes may qualify for an exemption from the fee.
The charity received a tax exemption last year.
She was granted exemption from military service because of a medical condition.
nouncountable
A specific case or category that a rule does not cover.
Grammar: Counted like other nouns: the law contains several exemptions.
Patterns
- an exemption to something
The new ban has one exemption for emergency vehicles.
Small farms are an exemption to the reporting rules.
Lawyers argued that the case fell within a narrow exemption.
Word forms
| plural | exemptions |
|---|
Common combinations
- tax exemption
- Churches often enjoy a tax exemption.
- grant an exemption
- The council granted an exemption to the family-run shop.
- apply for an exemption
- You must apply for an exemption before the deadline.
- qualify for an exemption
- Veterans may qualify for an exemption from the charge.
- medical exemption
- He carried a letter confirming his medical exemption.
Synonyms and how they differ
- immunity
- Immunity is protection from legal action or penalties, often tied to a position, while exemption is freedom from a general requirement.
- waiver
- A waiver is a formal giving-up of a right or requirement in a particular case, whereas an exemption is built into the rule itself.
- dispensation
- Dispensation is more formal and often comes from a religious or high authority allowing something normally forbidden.
- exception
- An exception is any case a rule does not cover, while an exemption is specifically release from a duty or charge.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: exemption or exception?
exemption vs exception
An exception is something left out of a general statement; an exemption is official release from a duty. A person gets an exemption, not an exception, from a tax.
Practice
The nonprofit applied for an ______ from property tax.
Choose one answer.
Exemption is the word that goes with from and means release from a charge. Exception is tempting but does not collocate with from in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exemption”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.