exit
pronunciation
How to pronounce exit in British English:
UK [ˈeksɪt]
How to pronounce exit in American English:
US [ˈeksɪt]
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- Noun:
- an opening that permits escape or release
- euphemistic expressions for death
- the act of going out
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- Verb:
- move out of or depart from
- lose the lead
- pass from physical life and lose all all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
Word Origin
- exit
- exit: [16] Ultimately, exit is the same word as English issue. Both come from Latin exīre, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and īre ‘go’. This Latin verb, which can be traced back to an Indo-European base *ei-, also produced English coitus [18], obituary, and transient (as well as the French future tense irai ‘will go’). The earliest use of exit in English was as a stage direction (it means literally ‘he or she goes out’ in Latin). The sense ‘way out’ is a late 17th-century development, the more concrete ‘door by which one leaves’ as recent as the late 19th century.=> coitus, obituary, transient
- exit (n.)
- 1530s (late 15c. as a Latin word in English), originally a stage direction, from Latin exit "he or she goes out," third person singular present indicative of exire "go out, go forth, depart," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + ire "to go" (see ion). Also from Latin exitus "a leaving, a going out," noun of action from exire. Meaning "a departure" (originally from the stage) is from 1580s. Meaning "a way of departure" is from 1690s; specific meaning "door for leaving" is from 1786. The verb is c. 1600, from the noun; it ought to be left to stage directions and the clunky jargon of police reports. Related: Exited; exiting. Those who neither know Latin nor read plays are apt to forget or not know that this is a singular verb with plural exeunt. [Fowler] Exit poll attested by 1980.
Example
- 1. But where is the exit sign ?
- 2. They eventually managed to sneak out of a secret exit .
- 3. Please give this declaration card to that officer at the exit .
- 4. In some corner offices , 2010 was the year of the surprise exit .
- 5. Still , within a month of the trial , more exit visas were being granted to jews .