Exit

How to spell exit

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce exit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does exit mean?

1. nounA door, gate or passage through which one leaves a place.
2. verbTo go out of or leave a place.

Exit in a sentence

• noun

  The cinema staff pointed everyone toward the nearest exit.

• verb

  Passengers must exit the train through the rear doors.

• noun

  A green sign above the door marked the emergency exit.

• verb

  Please exit the building calmly during the fire drill.

Where does exit come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Exit comes straight from Latin, where exit was a verb form meaning 'he or she goes out', built from ex 'out of' and the verb ire 'to go'. It entered English in the 1500s first as a stage direction in printed plays, the single Latin word that told a player to leave the scene (the plural form exeunt meant 'they go out'). From this theatrical use the noun sense grew, coming to mean the door or passage by which one leaves a place. The matching verb, meaning simply to go out or depart, followed naturally. The same ire root that supplies the -it ending also lies behind words such as transit, circuit and ambition, which is a useful reminder that the spelling ends in a plain -it rather than anything fancier.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• -it (from Latin ire/itus: to go)