Meaning & use
depart
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Meanings
verbintransitiveformal
To leave a place, especially to start a journey.
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'from' for the place or 'for' for the destination.
Patterns
- depart from somewhere
- depart for somewhere
- depart at a time
The train departs from platform 3 at 6:15.
We will depart for Paris early tomorrow morning.
She departed without saying goodbye.
verbintransitiveformal
To differ from what is usual, expected, or stated.
Grammar: Always used with 'from': depart from the plan, depart from tradition.
Patterns
- depart from something
The movie departs from the book in several important ways.
He rarely departs from his usual routine.
The new policy departs from previous practice.
Word forms
| third person singular | departs |
|---|---|
| past tense | departed |
| past participle | departed |
| -ing form | departing |
Common combinations
- depart from
- The flight departs from Heathrow at noon.
- depart for
- They departed for Rome yesterday.
- depart this life
- The old king departed this life peacefully.
- depart from tradition
- The chef departs from tradition by using olive oil.
Synonyms and how they differ
- leave
- Leave is the everyday word and can take an object (leave the house); depart is more formal and usually has no object.
- set off
- Set off is informal and means to begin a journey; depart is formal and often used for scheduled transport.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: depart or depart vs. part?
depart vs depart vs. part
Part (verb) means to separate or leave someone; depart means to leave a place. 'They parted at the station' means they separated, not that they left the station.
Practice
The plane ___ from Tokyo at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Choose one answer.
The subject 'plane' is singular, so the verb takes -s: 'departs'. 'Departs from' is wrong because 'from Tokyo' already follows, and 'depart' is plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “depart”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.