exception that proves the rule

English

Etymology

Derived from the medieval Latin legal principle "exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis" ("the exception tests the rule in the cases not excepted").

Examples
"Entry is free on Sundays." - This implies that entry is not free on the other six days of the week. "Parking prohibited on Sundays." - This implies that parking is not prohibited on the other six days of the week.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

exception that proves the rule (plural exceptions that prove the rule or exceptions that prove rules)

1. The rare occurrence of a counterexample to a rule, used to demonstrate that the rule exists.
   • 1688, [anonymous], An Answer to a Paper Importing a Petition of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Six other Bishops to His Majesty‎^[1], London: Henry Hills, page 14:

     A bishop ... is not bound to obey any Mandate but the King's; which Exception proves the Rule, and that he is inexcusably oblig'd to obey the King's

   • 1775, "A Gentleman of Lincoln's Inn", A Digest of Adjudged Cases in the Court of King's Bench‎^[2], London: G. Kearsly and G. Robinson, page 85:

     Some statutes give justices of the peace a power of proceeding on default, but the exception proves the rule in the thing not excepted; it seems therefore that the defendant should have been apprehended by a warrant

Related terms

• exception proves the rule
• the exception proves the rule

Translations

occurrence of counterexample

• Dutch: uitzondering die de regel bevestigt
• Finnish: poikkeus, joka vahvistaa säännön
• French: exception qui confirme la règle (fr)
• German: Ausnahme, die die Regel bestätigt; more idiomatically one says Ausnahmen bestätigen die Regel (de) (literally “exceptions prove the rule”)
• Italian: eccezione che conferma la regola f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unntaket som bekrefter regelen

  Nynorsk: unntaket som bekreftar regelen

• Polish: no equivalent term in Polish, but see wyjątek potwierdza regułę (pl)
• Portuguese: exceção que prova a regra f
• Russian: исключе́ние, подтвержда́ющее пра́вило n (isključénije, podtverždájuščeje právilo)
• Spanish: excepción que confirma la regla
• Swedish: undantaget som bekräftar regeln

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} výjimka potvrzující pravidlo f, výjimka potvrzuje pravidlo (cs)
• Danish: ^{(please verify)} undtagelsen bekræfter regelen
• French: ^{(please verify)} l’exception confirme la regle
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} a kivétel erősíti a szabályt (hu)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} undantekningin sannar regluna
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} exceptio probat rēgulam

See also

• honor in the breach
• the proof of the pudding is in the eating

References

• Gary Martin (1997–) “The exception that proves the rule”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.
• Michael Quinion (September 14, 2002) “Exception that proves the rule”, in World Wide Words.
• The Straight Dope

Anagrams

• exceptions that prove the rule