exodus

noun

ex·o·dus ˈek-sə-dəs

ˈeg-zə-

Synonyms of exodus next

capitalized : the mainly narrative second book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture see Bible Table

: a mass departure : emigration

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Don't Leave Without the History of Exodos

The Biblical book of Exodus describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, so it's no surprise that the word exodus, uncapitalized, has come to refer more generally to any mass departure. Exodus was adopted into English (via Latin) from the Greek word Exodos, which literally means “the road out.” Exodos was formed by combining the prefix ex-, meaning “out of,” and hodos, meaning “road” or “way.” Indeed, many roads led out of hodos into English; other hodos descendants include episode, method, odometer, and period. While exodus is occasionally encountered in reference to an individual’s leaving (e.g., “his/her/their exodus”), such usage is likely to raise the eyebrows of editors who feel it should only refer to the departure en masse of a large group of people, as when novelist Nnedi Okorafor writes in her science fiction novel Lagoon (2015): “Everyone was trying to get somewhere, be it a church, a bar, home or out of Lagos. Then there was the exodus of people … to the parts of the city that had the least chance of flooding if the water rose too high.”

Examples of exodus in a Sentence

the mass exodus from the cities for the beaches and the mountains on most summer weekends

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

As the year closes out, Netflix will initiate its biggest movie exodus of 2024. —

Travis Bean, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024 Former Twitter users have been intermittently fleeing what is now X ever since Elon Musk bought it in 2022, but its largest user exodus began right around this year’s election. —

Angela Yang, NBC News, 21 Dec. 2024 Those headlines, as well as industry figures who’ve sounded the alarm, prompted Newsom in late October to jet from Sacramento to Raleigh Studios in L.A. to unveil a plan alongside Mayor Karen Bass to staunch the production exodus. —

Erik Hayden, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Dec. 2024 Here's how much the holder just got Jason Ma Success Return-to-office mandates are associated with an exodus of high performers, research finds Sasha Rogelberg Tech Amazon founder Jeff Bezos kept his base salary modest during his 20 years as CEO. —

Ruth Umoh, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for exodus