exodus
noun
ˈeg-zə-
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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
Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
For now, the exodus has already started, as Andrew and his ex Sarah Ferguson have not been invited to spend Christmas with the family at Sandringham.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 23 Oct. 2025
Around this time of year, every night, a quiet exodus is occurring.
—Hannah Chinn, NPR, 22 Oct. 2025
Chevron, which has moved its headquarters from San Ramon to Houston in another example of the corporate exodus from California to Texas, revealed prior layoffs that erased 600 jobs in the Bay Area.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for exodus
Cite this Entry
“Exodus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exodus. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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exodus
noun
from Latin Exodus "a book of the Bible," derived from Greek exodos "a road or journey out," from ex- "out" and hodos "road"
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