出発
Meaning in Englishdeparture, start
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
The word 出発 (shuppatsu) means "departure": the act of leaving or beginning a journey, movement, or process; it refers to the moment something or someone sets out from an origin and can apply to physical travel, scheduled vehicle departures, or the start of an activity or phase.
Main meanings
- 1. Scheduled departure of vehicles and transports, used to mark the time a train, plane, or ship leaves.
- 2. The moment a person or group leaves a place to begin travel; emphasizes the leaving point rather than arrival.
- 3. Figurative start of an action, project, or stage (e.g., beginning a campaign or new phase).
- 4. Noun use for timetables and announcements; often converted to a verb with する to express "to depart".
How to use it
Common in both formal and neutral contexts, 出発 appears on timetables, public announcements, travel documents, and news reports; as a noun it marks an event or scheduled time, and as a suru-verb (出発する) it describes the action of departing, with polite and casual conjugations used according to social context.
Variants and close terms
- 発車 (hassha) — departure specific to vehicles (esp. trains);
- 出立 (shuttatsu) — more formal/written term for departure;
- 出航 (shukkō) — ship departure/setting sail;
- 到着 (tōchaku) — arrival (antonym).
Composition
- 出 (de / shutsu) — to go out, exit; indicates movement outward.
- 発 (hatsu / hatsu) — to emit, send forth, start; denotes initiation or dispatch.
- Combined, the compound conveys the idea of "going out" plus "being sent/starting," hence the sense of beginning a departure or setting off.
Etymology
出発 (shuppatsu) is a Sino-Japanese compound using on'yomi pronunciations corresponding to Classical Chinese chūfā; Japanese phonology produced gemination (the doubled consonant represented by っ) when the morphemes combined, so the sounds merged into the modern pronunciation.
Origin
The specific compound 出発 (shuppatsu) was standardized in modern Japanese usage as transport systems and official timetables spread during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming common in Meiji-era bureaucratic and technical language while the general concept of "leaving" predates this term.
Word class
noun; suru-verb (名詞、する動詞)