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departure

[dih-pahr-cher]
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noun
  1. an act or instance of departing: the time of departure; a hasty departure.
  2. divergence or deviation, as from a standard, rule, etc.: a departure from accepted teaching methods.
  3. Navigation.
    1. the distance due east or west traveled by a vessel or aircraft.
    2. point of departure.
  4. Surveying. the length of the projection, on the east-west reference line, of a survey line.
  5. Archaic. death.

Origin of departure

1375–1425; late Middle English < Old French departëure; compare Anglo-French departir (noun use of infinitive). See depart, -ure
Related formsnon·de·par·ture, nounpre·de·par·ture, noun

Synonyms

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1. leaving, going, exit, leave-taking.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for departure

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Now this, it seems to me, is my point of departure for the estimate of my possible resources.

  • At my departure their tomb had been hidden in the morning mist.

  • Mrs. Weston sadly missed her young friend after his departure.

    Life in London

    Edwin Hodder

  • For half an hour I was in momentary expectation of his departure.

    Lady Susan

    Jane Austen

  • He soon took his departure, a stableboy driving him back to the village.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

British Dictionary definitions for departure

departure

noun
  1. the act or an instance of departing
  2. a deviation or variation from previous custom; divergence
  3. a project, course of action, venture, etcselling is a new departure for him
  4. nautical
    1. the net distance travelled due east or west by a vessel
    2. Also called: point of departurethe latitude and longitude of the point from which a vessel calculates dead reckoning
  5. a euphemistic word for death
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for departure

n.

mid-15c., from Old French deporteure "departure," figuratively, "death," from departir (see depart) + -ure (see -ure).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper