asylum
Americannoun
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asylums,
plural
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asyla
plural
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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:
A 28-year-old from Venezuela, Garces Perez says he entered the U.S. legally using a process the Biden administration created, applied for asylum, and got a work permit.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
Despite his ongoing asylum case, he now faces deportation to the country he fled and whose abuses he has spent years documenting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Tim Beader, Oxfordshire County Council leader, said the campaigners had done an incredible job at highlighting their concerns about the proposed asylum centre.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
If built, a wire-fenced encampment a 15-minute walk from the village will become home to the asylum seekers, who would be free to come and go as they please.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
He is looking through a window out into the garden of the asylum.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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
The Magdalene Laundries were back in the spotlight recently following the death of Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, who spent time in one of the former asylums as a teenager.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2023
Promoters of forced treatment often push a well-known tale: Since the 1950s, many state hospital asylums have closed, and strict, rights-protecting mental health laws emerged.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2023
I couldn’t stop reading about the horrors—especially the stories about orphan asylums filled with unloved and underfed waifs.
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.
