Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

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

But he emphasizes that “Cuba’s reconstruction must be funded by private-sector investment and Cuban diaspora capital—inside a disciplined, legally enforceable framework from Day One.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

The country has run a high-profile campaign inviting the African diaspora - particularly African-Americans - to visit the continent.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 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

The history, the location, the alumni combined to create The Mecca—the crossroads of the black diaspora.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

But in an “ideas forum” at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in July he sketched out some basics for what he calls “Cuba Day Zero: Stabilization, Reconstruction and the Path to Investment.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Hill said the Fugees themselves embodied the idea behind Diaspora Calling.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

They spent many hours talking together about the changing world and the dawning of independence and liberation movements across the African Diaspora.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore

As a reporter, I knew enough about soccer culture to file stories from watch parties across Southern California’s cornucopia of diasporas every World Cup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 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