除く
のぞく · nozoku · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to exclude
🗑️ 除 is the jo of 削除 (delete) and 掃除 (cleaning): nozoku takes things out
〜を除いて means except for, as in 日曜を除いて (except Sundays). Don't confuse it with 覗く, also read nozoku, which means to peek. Only 除 carries the sense of removing or excluding.
除 — left ear/mound 阝 + surplus 余
除 combines the 'mound/steps' radical 阝 (originally 阜, a hill) with 余 as the phonetic. It first meant the steps of a palace, then extended to 'remove' or 'clear away' (as one sweeps steps clean), and later to mathematical 'divide.'