# depart

/dɪˈpɑɹt/ (US) · /dɪpˈɑːt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/depart
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. to leave a place

verb · CEFR B1

to leave a place, especially to start a journey.

For teachers: to leave or go away from a location, typically to begin a journey. Intransitive, though occasionally used transitively in formal travel contexts.

- The train is scheduled to depart from platform four in ten minutes.
- The delegation is expected to depart for the summit early tomorrow morning, provided the weather conditions remain stable for the flight.

### 2. to do something differently

verb · CEFR B2 · Formal

to change from a usual way of doing things or a standard plan.

For teachers: to deviate from an established rule, tradition, or course of action. Usually followed by the preposition 'from'.

- For this project, we decided to depart from our usual design style.
- The director chose to depart from the original script, introducing a controversial ending that sparked significant debate among critics.

### 3. to die

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal · Literary

a very formal or polite way to say someone has died.

For teachers: to die; used as a formal or euphemistic alternative to 'pass away'. Often used in the form 'the departed' to refer to the dead.

- The local priest spoke kindly of those who had departed this life.
- In his final letters, the poet wrote calmly about his readiness to depart this world, viewing death as a natural conclusion to his work.

### 4. aviation loss of control

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical

when a plane stops flying in a controlled way and starts to fall or spin.

For teachers: to lose control of an aircraft, resulting in a departure from controlled flight. Used both transitively and intransitively within the industry.

- The pilot struggled to regain control after the aircraft began to depart.
- The investigation concluded that the jet departed controlled flight due to a sudden mechanical failure in the tail section.

Usage: In technical aviation contexts, the aircraft is often the subject that 'departs' from its flight path.

## Examples

- The train will depart from platform four in ten minutes.
- Passengers are advised to check the monitors frequently as flights may depart earlier than scheduled during the storm.
- The delegation is scheduled to depart for the summit tomorrow morning, marking the first official diplomatic mission to the region in over a decade.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.