Exiting

Exiting refers to the act of leaving or going out of a place, situation, or state. It can describe physical movement, such as exiting a building, or the end of participation in an activity. The term functions as a present participle of the verb exit and can serve as an adjective (the exiting crowd) or as a noun phrase (the exiting of participants).

Etymology and usage

The word exit comes from Latin exire, meaning “to go out.” Exiting, as its present participle, has broadened in modern English to cover both motion and transitional states, and it appears in contexts ranging from casual conversation to technical writing.

In computing and information technology

In computing, exiting typically means terminating a program, process, or shell session. An exit status or return code communicates the outcome of an operation, with zero often indicating success and nonzero values indicating errors or special conditions. Programming languages provide explicit exit mechanisms, such as exit(0) in C and C++, System.exit in Java, or sys.exit in Python. Shell environments use the exit command to terminate a script or session. Exiting behavior can also be relevant to resource cleanup, error handling, and user interface flow.

In safety, design, and workflow

In safety engineering and building design, exiting is closely related to egress—the routes, doors, and procedures that enable occupants to leave a space quickly during an emergency. Clear exodus signage, unobstructed exit paths, and reflexive exiting behavior are central concerns of codes and standards governing public and workplace environments.

In business and everyday language

Exiting is also used to describe leaving a market, partnership, or organization, as in “the company is exiting the European market.” It can refer to voluntary departures or strategic withdrawals, and may be paired with exit planning, negotiations, or succession processes.