English Reference
noun · verb

exit

n. · v.
US /ˈɛɡzɪt/ UK /ˈɛɡzɪt/ ex·it UK spelling exited

  1. 01 A2 Elementary

    n.a door, gate, or road that you use to leave a place.

    n.a point of egress from an enclosed space, building, or vehicle.

    Simple

    The emergency exit is located at the back of the cinema.

    In context

    The fire marshal insisted that every emergency exit remain unobstructed and clearly illuminated throughout the duration of the performance.

    way outdooregress
  2. 02 B1 Intermediate

    n.the act of leaving a place or a situation.

    n.the act of departing from a location, position, or social situation.

    Simple

    The actor made a quick exit after his final line in the play.

    In context

    Her sudden exit from the meeting left the rest of the board members in a state of confused silence.

  3. 03 A2 Elementary

    v.to go out of a building, room, or vehicle.

    v.to depart from a physical space; often used as an intransitive verb.

    Simple

    Please wait for the train to stop completely before you exit.

    In context

    The passengers were instructed to exit the aircraft via the inflatable slides during the emergency drill.

  4. 04 B1 Intermediate Computing

    v.to stop using a computer program or app.

    v.to terminate a software application or subroutine.

    Simple

    Make sure you save your work before you exit the program.

    In context

    The system crashed because the user attempted to exit the application while a large background process was still synchronising with the server.

  5. 05 B2 Upper Intermediate FormalLiterary Theatre

    v.a word used in a play script to tell an actor to leave the stage.

    v.a stage direction indicating that a character leaves the scene.

    Simple

    The script says 'Exit Hamlet' at the end of the scene.

    In context

    The stage manager noted that the protagonist should exit stage left to maintain the continuity of the following sequence.

Usage exit strategy

I find myself wondering what might come next, and where the nearest exits are.

The Guardian· 19 Aug 2026

In fact, it arrives so early it appears to have spent a negative amount of time inside the cloud – to exit, on average, before it enters.

ScienceDaily· 4 Aug 2026

Etymology 1

From Middle English exit, from Latin exitus (“departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue”), from exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Exeō is derived from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + eō (“to go”) (ultimately from ). The English word is cognate with Italian esito, Portuguese êxito, Spanish éxito. Doublet of ejido and exitus. The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin exit, the third-person singular present active indicative of exeō (“to depart, exit; to avoid, evade; (figuratively) to escape; of time: to expire, run out”); see further at etymology 1 above.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin exitus
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Common
Updated