asylum
Americannoun
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(especially formerly) an institution for the maintenance and care of the mentally ill, orphans, or other persons requiring specialized assistance.
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an inviolable refuge, as formerly for criminals and debtors; sanctuary.
He sought asylum in the church.
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International Law.
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a refuge granted an alien by a sovereign state on its own territory.
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a temporary refuge granted political offenders, especially in a foreign embassy.
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any secure retreat.
noun
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a safe or inviolable place of refuge, esp as formerly offered by the Christian Church to criminals, outlaws, etc; sanctuary (often in the phrase give asylum to )
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shelter; refuge
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international law refuge afforded to a person whose extradition is sought by a foreign government
political asylum
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obsolete an institution for the shelter, treatment, or confinement of individuals, esp a mental hospital (formerly termed lunatic asylum )
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of asylum
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin, from Greek ásȳlon “sanctuary,” from a- a- 6 + sŷlon “right of seizure”
Explanation
When someone needs a refuge from a difficult or dangerous situation, they need asylum. If a government offers to protect people who have fled war or hardship in their own country, it gives them asylum. You may have heard asylum used to describe an institution where insane people are housed, but did you know that an asylum can also be somewhere you’d happily and willingly go? An asylum offers shelter and protection, like the awning of a building in a downpour. Or it could be a country that takes in refugees in danger of persecution — otherwise known as "political asylum."
Vocabulary lists containing asylum
100 Top "SAT" Words
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The Westing Game
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Now, I’m just always with the fear that I’ll get an immigration appointment for the asylum case that I didn’t want.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
And the European Union is tightening rules on asylum applications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Alongside educational and professional migration, Iranians are leaving through asylum channels and other routes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
That period lasted for around two months before she officially applied for asylum and was offered temporary accommodation while her case was reviewed.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Her observations about orphans and more homes for the friendless—“I just saw an advertisement for another new asylum, this one opened by the Catholics!”—still made my ears prick up like a nervous deer’s.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
We no longer write of ideæ, chori, asyla, musea, sphinges, specimina for ideas, choruses, asylums, museums, sphinxes, specimens, and the notion of returning to such plurals would seem barbarous and absurd.
From Society for Pure English, Tract 03 (1920) A Few Practical Suggestions by Society for Pure English
Greece had its famous asyla, but the custom of our own country was probably influenced from Hebrew rather than classical sources.
From Legal Lore Curiosities of Law and Lawyers by Various
Or were they swimming with the normative current in order to maintain careers, families, social standing — or, for that matter, to avoid being sent to asylums for shock treatment?
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Orson and Lorenzo, consummate showmen, were summoned to prisons, where they inspected the heads of inmates and guessed their crimes; at lunatic asylums they were challenged to identify the patients’ disorders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
It is open to those with an interest in "history and mystery" and involves picking up on paranormal activity using "the latest ghost-hunting equipment" at Willow Court, one of Australia's oldest asylums.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2024
Board and care homes started in California around 1969 as the state shut down its asylums and pushed for community-based mental health care.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2023
Try as I might to believe that she was done thinking about the Home for the Friendless, there were any number of new asylums being built each month in Chicago.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
