例外
lìwài · HSK 5
excepted
🚪 例 = example/rule + 外 = outside; an exception falls outside the rule
例 means precedent or rule, 外 means outside. Together: outside the rule = exception. Sounds like lee-why — the case that asks why it doesn't follow the pattern.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.