excedere

Excedere is a Latin verb of the third conjugation meaning to go out, depart, withdraw, or to surpass and exceed. It combines ex- “out” with cedo “to go, yield,” and its principal parts are excedo, excedere, excessi, excessum. The verb is primarily intransitive in its sense of movement, but in figurative uses it can mean to surpass or exceed a limit or standard.

In usage, excedere commonly denotes leaving a place or withdrawing from a position (for example, to depart from a camp or city). In a figurative sense it means to go beyond a limit, to surpass, outrun, or exceed expectations or measurements. The sense can be expressed with various complements or constructions, depending on what is being surpassed.

Morphologically, excedere forms like excedo, excedes, excedit in the present indicative; imperfect like excedebam, perfect as excessi, and supine as excessum. The perfect passive participle is excessus, and the present participle is excedens. Passive forms such as excedor, excederis, exceditur exist in Latin as well. The related noun exodus or exitus derives from the same root and denotes an exit or departure; the adjective excedens means surpassing or exceeding.

See also: exire, exitus, exodus, cedo. Excedere illustrates how Latin verbs of motion can broaden to figurative meaning, linking physical departure with the idea of going beyond a boundary.