Latin name of Britain, preserved in poetry and as the proper name of the female figure who personifies the place on coinage, etc.

When Britain first, at Heaven's command

     Arose from out the azure main;

This was the charter of the land,

     And guardian angels sang this strain:

"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:

"Britons never will be slaves."

[James Thomson, 1740]

mid-15c., a legal term, "deviating from rule or principle, eccentric;" from Late Latin exorbitantem (nominative exorbitans), present participle of exorbitare "deviate, go out of the track," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + orbita "wheel track" (see orb). General sense of "excessive, immoderate" is from 1620s; of prices, rates, etc., from 1660s. Related: Exorbitantly.

"divide and assign according to rule," 1570s, from French apportionner, from Old French aporcioner "apportion, share out," from a- "to" (see ad-) + portioner "to divide into portions," from portion "share, portion" (see portion (n.)). Related: Apportioned; apportioning.

late 14c., excepcioun, "act or fact of leaving out or the excluding of" from the scope of some rule or condition, from Anglo-French excepcioun (late 13c. in a legal sense, "formal objection or protest entered by a defendant"), Old French excepcion, from Latin exceptionem (nominative exceptio) "an exception, restriction, limitation; an objection," noun of action from past-participle stem of excipere "to take out" (see except).

From c. 1400 as "a reservation or exemption;" from late 15c. as "something that is excepted."  The exception that proves the rule is from law: exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis, "the exception proves the rule in cases not excepted;" exception here being "action of excepting" someone or something from the rule in question, not the person or thing that is excepted. The figure of speech in to take exception "find fault with, disapprove" is from excipere being used in Roman law as a modern attorney would say objection.

"rule of courtesans," 1859, from hetaera + -cracy "rule or government by."

c. 1400, reuleli, "conforming to (religious) rule; amenable to rule, disciplined, orderly," from rule (n.) + -ly (2). Modern use (19c. and after) probably is usually a back-formation.

"British rule in India," 1859, from Hindi raj "rule, dominion, kingdom" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line," thus "to lead, rule").

Old English weldan (Mercian), wieldan, wealdan (West Saxon) "have power over, compel, tame, subdue" (class VII strong verb; past tense weold, past participle gewealden), merged with weak verb wyldan, both from Proto-Germanic *waldan "to rule" (source also of Old Saxon and Gothic waldan, Old Frisian walda "to govern, rule," Old Norse valda "to rule, wield, to cause," Old High German waltan, German walten "to rule, govern").

The Germanic words and cognates in Balto-Slavic (Old Church Slavonic vlado "to rule," vlasti "power," Russian vladeti "to reign, rule, possess, make use of," Lithuanian veldu, veldėti "to rule, possess") probably are from PIE *woldh-, extended form of root *wal- "to be strong, to rule." Related: Wielded; wielding.

also over-rule, "rule against; set aside, as by a higher authority," 1590s, from over- + rule (v.). It was used earlier in a sense "to govern, control, have sway over" (1570s). Related: Overruled; overruling.

"being beyond or out of the common order or rule; not of the usual, customary, or regular kind," early 15c., from Latin extraordinarius "out of the common order," from extra ordinem "out of order," especially the usual order, from extra "out" (see extra-) + ordinem, accusative of ordo "row, rank, series, arrangement" (see order (n.)).

Of officials, etc., "outside of or in addition to the regular staff," often "temporarily employed for a specific purpose," from 1580s. Also from 1580s in the sense of "remarkable, uncommon, rare, wonderful." Related: Extraordinarily; extraordinariness.