to go away; leave: She departed from Paris today. The train departs at 10:52.
2.
to diverge or deviate (usually fol. by from): The new method departs from the old in several respects.
3.
to pass away, as from life or existence; die.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to go away from; leave: to depart this life.
–noun
5.
Archaic. departure; death.
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME departen < OF departir, equiv. to de-de-+ partir to go away; see part(v.)]
—Synonyms 1.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, esp. 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. 4. quit.
To vary, as from a regular course; deviate: depart from custom. See Synonyms at swerve.
v.
tr.
To go away from; leave.
[Middle English departen, from Old French departir, to split, divide : de-, de- + partir, to divide (from Latin partīre, from pars, part-, part; see part).]
c.1225, from O.Fr. departir, from L.L. departire "divide" (transitive), from de- "from" + partire "to part, divide," from pars (gen. partis) "a part." As a euphemism for "to die" (to depart this life) it is attested from 1501. Fr. department meant "group of people" (as well as "departure"), from which Eng. borrowed sense of "separate division" (c.1735) found in department store (1847). Transitive in Eng. lingers in some senses; the wedding service was till death us depart until 1662.
remove oneself from an association with or participation in; "She wants to leave"; "The teenager left home"; "She left her position with the Red Cross"; "He left the Senate after two terms"; "after 20 years with the same company, she pulled up stakes" [syn: leave]
6.
wander from a direct or straight course [syn: sidetrack]
De*part"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Departed; p. pr. & vb. n. Departing.] [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. d['e]partir to divide, distribute, se d['e]partir to separate one's self, depart; pref. d['e]- (L. de) + partir to part, depart, fr. L. partire, partiri, to divide, fr. pars part. See Part.]1. To part; to divide; to separate. [Obs.] --Shak. 2. To go forth or away; to quit, leave, or separate, as from a place or a person; to withdraw; -- opposed to arrive; -- often with from before the place, person, or thing left, and for or to before the destination. I will depart to mine own land. --Num. x. 30. Ere thou from hence depart. --Milton. He which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart. --Shak. 3. To forsake; to abandon; to desist or deviate (from); not to adhere to; -- with from; as, we can not depart from our rules; to depart from a title or defense in legal pleading. If the plan of the convention be found to depart from republican principles. --Madison. 4. To pass away; to perish. The glory is departed from Israel. --1 Sam. iv. 21. 5. To quit this world; to die. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. --Luke ii. 29. To depart with, to resign; to part with. [Obs.] --Shak.
De*part"\, v. t. 1. To part thoroughly; to dispart; to divide; to separate. [Obs.] Till death departed them, this life they lead. --Chaucer. 2. To divide in order to share; to apportion. [Obs.] And here is gold, and that full great plentee, That shall departed been among us three. --Chaucer. 3. To leave; to depart from. "He departed this life." --Addison. "Ere I depart his house." --Shak.
De*part"\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]part, fr. d['e]partir.]1. Division; separation, as of compound substances into their ingredients. [Obs.] The chymists have a liquor called water of depart. --Bacon. 2. A going away; departure; hence, death. [Obs.] At my depart for France. --Shak. Your loss and his depart. --Shak.