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• diaspora
  diaspora

  noun

  Usually Diaspora. the scattering of the Jews from the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah following the dissolution of those kingdoms and Babylonian captivity.
• Diaspora
  Diaspora

diaspora

American  

[dahy-as-per-uh, dee-] / daɪˈæs pər ə, di- /

noun

• diasporas
  plural

1. Usually Diaspora. the scattering of the Jews from the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah following the dissolution of those kingdoms and Babylonian captivity.

2. Often Diaspora.

   1. the body of Jews living in countries outside Israel.

   2. such countries collectively.

      Passover is celebrated for seven days in Israel, but for eight days by Jews living in the Diaspora.

3. Often Diaspora. any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland, especially involuntarily, as Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

4. any group migration or flight from a country or region.

   Synonyms:

   scattering, displacement, migration, dissemination, dispersion

   Antonyms:

   return

5. any religious group living as a minority among people of the prevailing religion.

6. the spread or dissemination of something originally confined to a local, homogeneous group, as a language or cultural institution.

   the diaspora of English as a global language.

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Diaspora British  

/ daɪˈæspərə /

noun

1. 1. the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian and Roman conquests of Palestine

   2. the Jewish communities outside Israel

   3. the Jews living outside Israel

   4. the extent of Jewish settlement outside Israel

2. (in the New Testament) the body of Christians living outside Palestine

3. (often not capital) a dispersion or spreading, as of people originally belonging to one nation or having a common culture

4. the descendants of Sub-Saharan African peoples living anywhere in the Western hemisphere

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Pop Culture

—“To the Diaspora”: A 1981 poem by African American poet Gwendolyn Brooks. — Diaspora: A 1997 science fiction novel by Australian author Greg Egan.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• diasporic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• diasporas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of diaspora

First recorded in 1690–1700; from Greek diasporá “scattering, dispersion”; see origin at dia-, spore

Explanation

A diaspora is a large group of people with a similar heritage or homeland who have since moved out to places all over the world. The term diaspora comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "to scatter about." And that's exactly what the people of a diaspora do — they scatter from their homeland to places across the globe, spreading their culture as they go. The Bible refers to the Diaspora of Jews exiled from Israel by the Babylonians. But the word is now also used more generally to describe any large migration of refugees, language, or culture.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diaspora Diaspora diasporas

Bhagwat’s U.S. appearance aims to capitalize on Modi’s political ascension and popularity among the Indian diaspora, including the fast-growing, nearly 4.8 million population of Americans whom the Census Bureau identifies as ethnic Indian.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

At the same time, amid Iran's brutal crackdown on protesters months ago, some diaspora activists identified relatives of Iranian officials abroad and campaigned to revoke their legal status.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

There is a particular helplessness to diaspora I have never quite found the words for, though I keep trying.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

Broader estimates, which include people of Iranian descent, put the global Iranian diaspora between five million and eight million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Just as Lawrence had warned Sproul that the cyclotron diaspora was bound to end Berkeley’s monopoly on cheap grad-student labor, it was now ending Berkeleys monopoly on cyclotron technology.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

One popular order is the Diaspora Delight with blackened salmon and jollof rice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Diaspora communities are increasingly playing a role in widening player pools, said Gijsbert Oonk, a professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam who studies the intersection of migration and sports.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

In 1969, the son of the Diaspora finally visited Israel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Control over their access to Gaza rests with the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism, a little-known department initially designed to strengthen ties with, and protections for, Jews abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

Their children were deeply involved and inspired by their parents’ mission to encourage self-reliance and uphold a sense of empowerment for people of the African Diaspora.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Almost overnight, a player from a country with the world’s 13th-largest population of about 113 million but with almost no professional tennis tradition is carrying one of the globe’s biggest diasporas from tournament to tournament.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

In the 19th and 20th centuries, it helped the city become a bustling metropolis, home to sizable European diasporas and a distinct cosmopolitan culture.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

Gambling has long been a fixture in Black diasporas in America, cherished and bemoaned in equal parts, going back to the 18th century.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026

For Ukrainian actor Katarina Sinchillo, Russian diasporas can vary and Montenegro's is "sensitive".

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024

Canada, home to one of the world's largest Ukrainian diasporas, is a vocal supporter of Kyiv.

From Reuters ● Sep. 17, 2023

Related Words

• exodus