exodus

American  

[ek-suh-duhs] / ˈɛk sə dəs /

noun

1. a going out; a departure or emigration, usually of a large number of people.

   the summer exodus to the country and shore.

2. the Exodus, the departure of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses.

3. (initial capital letter) the second book of the Bible, containing an account of the Exodus. Ex.

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exodus ¹ British  

/ ˈɛksədəs /

noun

1. the act or an instance of going out

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Exodus ² British  

/ ˈɛksədəs /

noun

1. the departure of the Israelites from Egypt led by Moses

2. the second book of the Old Testament, recounting the events connected with this and the divine visitation of Moses at Mount Sinai

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Exodus Cultural  

1. The second book of the Old Testament; it tells of the departure of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt (see also Egypt), made possible by the ten plagues of Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. Moses led them, and their destination was the Promised Land. God guided them by sending a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to show them the way they should go. God also fed them with manna and gave them water out of a solid rock. Because of their frequent complaining and failure to trust him, however, God made them stay in the desert for forty years before entering the Promised Land. God gave them the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Mosaic law on Mount Sinai during the Exodus. Exodus is a Greek word meaning “departure.”

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Etymology

Origin of exodus

First recorded before 1000; from Late Latin, the name of the second book of the Bible, from Greek éxodos “a going out, marching out,” equivalent to ex- “out of” + (h)odós “way”; ex- ³

Example Sentences

Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran has witnessed multiple waves of middle-class exodus, where Iranian immigrants moved to the U.S to escape economic collapse and persecution.

From Los Angeles Times

JOHANNESBURG—The corporate exodus from what was supposed to be Africa’s breakout economy is accelerating, propelled by a toxic cocktail of corruption, lawlessness and poor infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal

One current prosecutor said the amount of institutional knowledge lost in the exodus of Justice Department lawyers over the past year could take decades to replace.

From The Wall Street Journal

But it appears that even Palantir isn’t immune from the exodus out of software stocks.

From Barron's

The hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who came to the U.S. before the mass exodus of recent years were among the most highly educated immigrants to arrive in the country.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• departure
• evacuation
• flight
• migration
• withdrawal