Who never touched
The excepted tree. Milton.

Wherein (if we only except the unfitness of the judge) all other things concurred. Bp. Stillingfleet.

Except thou wilt except against my love. Shak.

God and his Son except,
Created thing naught valued he nor . . . shunned. Milton.

Syn. -- Except, Excepting, But, Save, Besides. Excepting, except, but, and save are exclusive. Except marks exclusion more pointedly. "I have finished all the letters except one," is more marked than "I have finished all the letters but one." Excepting is the same as except, but less used. Save is chiefly found in poetry. Besides (lit., by the side of) is in the nature of addition. "There is no one here except or but him," means, take him away and there is nobody present. "There is nobody here besides him," means, he is present and by the side of, or in addition to, him is nobody. "Few ladies, except her Majesty, could have made themselves heard." In this example, besides should be used, not except.

And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Gen. xxxii. 26.

But yesterday you never opened lip,
Except, indeed, to drink. Tennyson.

* As a conjunction unless has mostly taken the place of except.