Exception, n.
Etymology: [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)
2 more senses
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.
Shades of meaning
Fernald lists exception only as an antonym, under sample.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.