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I'm working on an essay and the first line of my introductory paragraph currently reads as:

Too many times, when sitting in an English classroom, have bitter groans departed the lips of around twenty students when Shakespeare’s name is mentioned.

This probably seems like a very facile question, but it's somewhat confusing to me; the main definition of "depart," according to the dictionary, is "to leave, typically in order to start a journey." However, when reading, the word is often formatted such so that "from" is put in front of it, right before the area of question–– i.e., "he departed from his home in Alsace." In this case, when referring to that definition, doesn't it translate to "he left from his home in Alsace"? Wouldn't "he departed his home in Alsace" ("he left his home in Alsace") be more suitable and also less wordy? Are both usages grammatically correct?

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    It's just one of the peculiarities of the language that you leave a place, but depart from it.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 18, 2018 at 9:03
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    I don't understand what "research" close voters think the poster should have done. Whether to include "from" after "departed" is not something I would expect to be able to determine conclusively by consulting a general-reference resource.
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Dec 18, 2019 at 18:08
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    Who sat in class? In your sentence, bitter groans were sitting in class. I think you mean "when I sat" or "sitting in an English classroom, I heard bitter groans from around..." Or just take out when sitting. Also, groans are throat sounds more than lip sounds.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Dec 18, 2019 at 20:31
  • "The lips etc.," is a noun phrase acting adverbially - it is a complement rather than a direct object. "From the lips" is a prepositional phrase that also acts adverbially (also as a complement.) Similarities can be found in "I will see you [on] Sunday" and "He led her [on] a dance." and "I gave it [to] the police", etc.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Apr 7, 2021 at 18:26

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The expression "depart the lips" is grammatical. When talking about a literal or figurative journey, "depart" meaning "leave" can be followed by "from [starting point]", or "to [destination]" or simply [starting point].

  1. verb
    When something or someone departs from a place, they leave it and start a journey to another place.

Our tour departs from Heathrow Airport on 31 March and returns 16 April. [VERB + from]
In the morning Mr McDonald departed for Sydney. [VERB + for]
The coach departs Potsdam in the morning. [VERB noun]

Depart (Collins English Dictionary)

Collins also gives as American usage to "depart a job", and "flight 10 departs Chicago at 2 P.M.", and notes generally that when we die, we "depart this life".

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  • Transitive 'depart'? Grammatical, but with a restricted number of acceptable DOs, and often a literary usage (depart their lips / this life).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 14, 2019 at 16:31
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Actually that’s a good question. Both are correct. It’s also ok to say “leave from”.

The two have a slightly different meanings. “Depart from” and “leave from” imply you are going somewhere and wish to note the place you left from as where you started. “He left the house” is more from the point of view of the house (loosely), emphasizing that he is not there. ‘Exit stage left’ kind’ve thing. The point is less that he was going somewhere and more that he is gone.

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