depart
Americanverb (used without object)
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to go away; leave.
She departed from Paris today. The train departs at 10:52.
- Antonyms:
- arrive
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to diverge or deviate (usually followed byfrom ).
The new method departs from the old in several respects.
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to pass away, as from life or existence; die.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
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to go away; leave
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to start out; set forth
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(usually foll by from) to deviate; differ; vary
to depart from normal procedure
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(tr) to quit (archaic, except in the phrase depart this life )
Related Words
Depart, retire, retreat, withdraw imply leaving a place. Depart is a somewhat literary word for going away from a place: to depart on a journey. Retire emphasizes absenting oneself or drawing back from a place: to retire from a position in battle. Retreat implies a necessary withdrawal, especially as a result of adverse fortune in war: to retreat to secondary lines of defense. Withdraw suggests leaving some specific place or situation, usually for some definite and often unpleasant reason: to withdraw from a hopeless task.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of depart
1175–1225; Middle English departen < Old French departir, equivalent to de- de- + partir to go away; see part ( v. )
Explanation
To depart is to go away or to choose a different direction. If you are catching a plane, you are soon to depart. And, if you are wearing a kilt instead of jeans, you depart from your usual look. Airports and train stations have gates for arrivals and departures. Airplanes and people coming in "arrive" while those going out depart. You also can depart without going anywhere, as when you change your mind and depart from an earlier decision. To "depart from the norm" is an expression for doing something different than expected, like giggling during a tear-jerker of a movie.
Vocabulary lists containing depart
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 8
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last year's men's Grand Depart took place in Florence, with the 2026 race starting in Barcelona.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2025
The country's first Grand Depart took place in London in 2007.
From BBC • Feb. 28, 2025
The route: Depart La Jolla Bay and hike the paved pathway along the coast and through Ellen Browning Scripps Park.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024
The motto of the school is, “Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve.”
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2022
It included an essay Wallace had written called “On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type.”
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
