An "exception" is a term used in programming to describe an event that disrupts the normal flow of a program's execution. When an error occurs, such as trying to divide by zero or accessing a file that doesn't exist, an exception is raised. This allows the program to handle the error gracefully instead of crashing. In many programming languages, exceptions can be caught and managed using specific constructs, such as try and catch blocks. This enables developers to write code that can respond to errors, ensuring that the program can continue running or provide useful feedback to the user.