*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of exit

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Latin eō Latin exeō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin exitusd

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To go out or go away from a place or situation; to depart, to leave. · To leave a scene or depart from a stage. · To depart from life; to die. · To end or terminate (a program, subroutine, etc.)

noun

An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure. · The action of an actor leaving a scene or the stage. · An opening or passage through which one can go from inside a place (such as a building, a room, or a vehicle) to the outside; an egress. · A minor road (such as a ramp or slip road) which is used to leave a major road (such as an expressway, highway, or motorway).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Latin eō Latin exeō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin exitusder. Middle English exit English exit 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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionexitenm
  • Derivation mentionexitusla · departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue
  • Cognate mentionesitoit
  • Cognate mentionêxitopt
  • Cognate mentionéxitoes
  • Doublet mentionejidoen
  • Doublet mentionexitusen

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:exit<ety:der<la:exitus>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ\nProto-Indo-European *-s\nProto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs\nProto-Italic *eks\nLatin ex\nLatin ex-\nLatin eō\nLatin exeō\nProto-Indo-European *-tus\nProto-Italic *-tus\nLatin -tus\nLatin exitusder.\nMiddle English exit\nEnglish exit\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"go out\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"out of, from\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"out\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₁éǵʰ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"adverbial\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-s\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*h₁éǵʰs\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*eks\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"ex\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"ex-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" }, { \"gloss\" : \"go\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"eō\", \"status\" : \"ambiguous\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"exeō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" }, { \"id\" : \"action noun\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"action noun\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-tus\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\", \"pos\" : \"suffix deriving action nouns from verb roots\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*-tus\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-tus\", \"lang\" : \"la\", \"pos\" : \"action noun forming suffix\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"exitus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"exit\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"exit\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"exit\">"
    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "exit"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English exit"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "exitus",
        "t": "departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin exitus (“departure, going out; way by which one may go out, egress; (figuratively) conclusion, termination; (figuratively) death; income, revenue”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "it",
        "2": "esito"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian esito"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "pt",
        "2": "êxito"
      },
      "expansion": "Portuguese êxito"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "es",
        "2": "éxito"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish éxito"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ejido",
        "3": "exitus"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of ejido and exitus"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "verb"
    },
    {
      "name": "sup",
      "args": {
        "1": "2"
      },
      "expansion": "²"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:exit<ety:der<la:exitus>>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ\nProto-Indo-European *-s\nProto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs\nProto-Italic *eks\nLatin ex\nLatin ex-\nLatin eō\nLatin exeō\nProto-Indo-European *-tus\nProto-Italic *-tus\nLatin -tus\nLatin exitusder.\nMiddle English exit\nEnglish exit"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*h₁éǵʰ",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁éǵʰ"
    ],
    [
      "*-s",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-s#Proto-Indo-European:_adverbial"
    ],
    [
      "*h₁éǵʰs",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁éǵʰs"
    ],
    [
      "*eks",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/eks"
    ],
    [
      "ex",
      "ex#Latin:_out"
    ],
    [
      "ex-",
      "ex-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "eō",
      "eo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "exeō",
      "exeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*-tus",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-tus#Proto-Indo-European:_action_noun"
    ],
    [
      "*-tus",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/-tus"
    ],
    [
      "-tus",
      "-tus#Latin:_action_noun"
    ],
    [
      "exitus",
      "exitus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "exit",
      "exit#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "exit",
      "exit#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "exitus",
      "exitus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "exeō",
      "exeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "-tus",
      "-tus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ex-",
      "ex-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "eō",
      "eo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "esito",
      "esito#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "êxito",
      "êxito#Portuguese"
    ],
    [
      "éxito",
      "éxito#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "ejido",
      "ejido#English"
    ],
    [
      "exitus",
      "exitus#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To go out or go away from a place or situation; to depart, to leave.",
        "To leave a scene or depart from a stage.",
        "To depart from life; to die.",
        "To end or terminate (a program, subroutine, etc.)"
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "euphemistic",
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    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.",
        "The action of an actor leaving a scene or the stage.",
        "An opening or passage through which one can go from inside a place (such as a building, a room, or a vehicle) to the outside; an egress.",
        "A minor road (such as a ramp or slip road) which is used to leave a major road (such as an expressway, highway, or motorway)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "specifically"
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

Used as a stage direction for an actor: to leave the scene or stage.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Borrowed-form mentionexitla
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "exit"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin exit"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "third-person"
      },
      "expansion": "third-person"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "singular"
      },
      "expansion": "singular"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "present"
      },
      "expansion": "present"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "active"
      },
      "expansion": "active"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "indicative"
      },
      "expansion": "indicative"
    },
    {
      "name": "sup",
      "args": {
        "1": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "¹"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "exit",
      "exit#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "exeō",
      "exeo#Latin"
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      "etymology 1",
      "#Etymology 1"
    ]
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  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "Used as a stage direction for an actor: to leave the scene or stage."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for exit →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZXhpdA