depart
Americanverb (used without object)
-
departs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
departed,
past participle, past
-
departing
present participle
-
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)
-
departs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
departed,
past participle, past
-
departing
present participle
noun
verb
-
to go away; leave
-
to start out; set forth
-
(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 )
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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departsimple
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departssimple
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have departedperfect
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has departedperfect
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am departingprogressive
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are departingprogressive
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is departingprogressive
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have been departingperfect progressive
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has been departingperfect progressive
Past
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departedsimple
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had departedperfect
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was departingprogressive
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were departingprogressive
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had been departingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
Gracie Cochrane will depart from her role as Ginny Weasley due to ‘unforeseen circumstances.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
But within weeks of the testy hearing, both Mahr and Guzman unexpectedly resigned—the latest in a string of finance officials to depart over the past year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The more frequently droplets appear and depart, the more often the surface is refreshed, allowing heat to move through it more efficiently.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
Should Rodri depart, Maresca's side are somewhat lacking in leaders, with club captain Silva and experienced campaigners John Stones and Nathan Ake also leaving.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
As they stood upon the hillside, ready to depart, a pale sunlight gleamed over the mountain-tops.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
He was initially set to continue in his Lions role, leaving a planned tour of South Africa early to join-up with Thunder, but now departs the national set-up.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Julian Casablancas-led band’s seventh album, produced by Rick Rubin, sharply departs from its alternative-rock sound, leaning into AutoTuned experimentation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Obviously with massive spoilers ahoy, here are eight of the biggest ways Nolan’s “Odyssey” departs from Homer’s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
According to several NBA news-breakers, including Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Warriors are attempting to sign James this offseason as he departs the Lakers.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
A very unpleasant way to spend an afternoon Gemini 10 departs.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
The ferry had departed from the Northern Cyprus port of Kyrenia -- called Girne Kepuveia in Turkish -- heading to the Turkish port of Tasucu.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Ive, Apple’s design chief and a longtime Jobs disciple, departed Apple in 2019, reportedly frustrated with the company’s heavy focus on operations.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Those who were closest to the events reckon with the decisions that brought them there—and with the people who were left behind when the last plane departed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Earlier this year, actor Gracie Cochrane’s family announced that the young actor departed the series — she was to play Ron Weasley’s younger sister Ginny — because of a “challenging decision” to “unforeseen circumstances.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Calling infinitesimals “ghosts of departed quantities,” Berkeley showed how making these infinitesimals disappear with impunity can lead to a contradiction.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
An Anthropic study further shows that concern for the sentience of other creatures can be a reason for an AI model, in its internal reasoning, to justify departing from human instructions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Central Command said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The Senate approved Blanche as lawmakers raced through a roughly 20-hour session before departing Washington for their summer recess.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Newcastle United manager Matthias Jaissle says a decision about Bruno Guimaraes' future had already been taken by the time he first met the club's departing captain.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
You yourself are debating departing when it happens.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
