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
Byprarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 9 Apr. 2024
Previous famines or extreme hunger crises, including those in Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, have sparked a mass exodus of refugees into neighboring countries, where aid workers can distribute food.
—Lauren Weber, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'exodus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Exodus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exodus. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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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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