An exemption is official permission to not do something that others are required to do, or to not pay something that others must pay. It removes a rule or duty for a specific person or group.
It comes from Latin 'exemptio', from 'eximere' meaning 'to take out, remove', from 'ex-' (out) and 'emere' (to take). An exemption is literally something taken out of a general requirement.
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