Departure

How to spell departure

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce departure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does departure mean?

1. nounThe act of leaving a place, especially the start of a journey.
2. nounA change from an established course, method, or expectation.

Departure in a sentence

• The departure of the morning train was delayed by an hour.

• The new policy marked a sharp departure from previous practice.

• Passengers should arrive well before their scheduled departure.

• Critics praised the film as a bold departure from the director's earlier style.

Where does departure come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the Old French departeure, meaning a separation or a going away, which was built on the verb departir, 'to divide' or 'to leave'. That verb traces back to the Latin departire, formed from the prefix de-, meaning 'away from', and partire, meaning 'to divide' or 'to share out', itself from pars, 'a part'. English took the word in during the late 1400s, and its earliest senses leaned on the idea of dividing or parting before settling firmly on the modern meaning of leaving a place. The same partire root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'part', 'partition', and 'apartment', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the plain word 'part' in its middle. The tricky stretch is the ending, where the unstressed -ure can tempt writers toward -er or -or, even though the noun-forming -ure is what is correct here.

How the word is built

• de- (away)
• part (from Latin partire: to divide, depart)
• -ure (noun suffix denoting an act or result)