例外
れいがい · reigai · JLPT N3 · noun
exception
例外 = example + outside: the one case that falls outside the rule
例 (rei) means example or precedent, as in 例えば, for example. 外 (gai) means outside, as in 外国, a foreign country. So 例外 is whatever sits outside the usual examples, which makes it an exception.
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'.