exodus

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noun ex·o·dus \ ˈek-sə-dəs , ˈeg-zə- \

Definition of exodus

1 capitalized :the mainly narrative second book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture — see Bible Table

2 :a mass departure :emigration

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exodus was our Word of the Day on 04/23/2016. Hear the podcast!

Examples of exodus in a Sentence

the mass exodus from the cities for the beaches and the mountains on most summer weekends

Recent Examples of exodus from the Web

The most recent exodus to Bangladesh follows an upsurge in violence in Rakhine.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "The world’s ‘most friendless people’ are under assault yet again," 31 Aug. 2017
Few dead bees were found in hives or around them — and the mass exoduses could not be explained by a lack of resources, since the hives were found to have reserves of pollen and honey.

— susmita baral, Teen Vogue, "Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder, Explained," 29 Aug. 2017
The lack of direction has contributed to a high-level staff exodus, which continued on Friday with the departure of two more senior diplomats.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Rex Tillerson Won’t Say If Trump ‘Speaks For American Values’," 27 Aug. 2017
This exodus had a vibrant, happy soundtrack, as people shared impressions — the wonders of nature, the way this phenomenon briefly united strangers in a celestial community.

— peter rowe, sandiegouniontribune.com, "LIVE BLOG: The Eclipse in San Diego," 21 Aug. 2017
Square footage prices years ago got scary in New York City, helping to foment an exodus of talented young chefs.

— hanna raskin, Bon Appetit, "One of the Best New Restaurants In the Country Is Hidden in a Bakery in Charleston," 10 Aug. 2017
One of those is the Bible’s Old Testament, which suggests a grisly end for many Canaanites: After the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, God ordered them to destroy Canaan and its people (though other passages suggest some may have survived).

— giorgia guglielmi, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: The fate of the Canaanites, lava’s likely origins, and the hidden history of old books," 28 July 2017
My money’s exodus was visceral, like dollar bills were trampling each other to flee my bank account.

— charlotte cowles, The Cut, "How to Survive Wedding Season When You’re Broke," 20 July 2017
The exodus of foreign nationals also hurt; in the early 2010s one-third of doctors were immigrants.

— The Economist, "The British economy if the country crashes out of the European Union," 13 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exodus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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 has come to refer more generally to any mass departure. The word itself was adopted into English (via Latin) from Greek Exodos, which literally means "the road out." The Greek word was formed by combining the prefix ex- and hodos, meaning "road" or "way." Other descendants of the prolific hodos in English include episode, method, odometer, and period. There are also several scientific words that can be traced back to hodos. Anode and cathode can refer, respectively, to the positive and negative electrodes of a diode, and hodoscope refers to an instrument for tracing the paths of ionizing particles.