exile

[eg-zahyl, ek-sahyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exile ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.

the fact or state of such expulsion: to live in exile.

a person banished from his or her native land.

prolonged separation from one's country or home, as by force of circumstances: wartime exile.

anyone separated from his or her country or home voluntarily or by force of circumstances.

the Exile, the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, 597–538 b.c.

verb (used with object), ex·iled, ex·il·ing.

to expel or banish (a person) from his or her country; expatriate.

to separate from country, home, etc.: Disagreements exiled him from his family.

Origin of exile

1250–1300; Middle English exil banishment < Latin ex(s)ilium, equivalent to exsul banished person + -ium -ium

Related formsex·il·a·ble, adjectiveex·il·er, nounqua·si-ex·iled, adjectiveun·ex·iled, adjective

Synonyms for exile

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exile ON THESAURUS.COM

7, 8. evict, drive out, cast out, eject, deport.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for exile

expatriate, refugee, fugitive, oust, relegate, extradite, outlaw, expel, displace, evacuate, ostracize, banish, dispersion, proscription, exclusion, displacement, expulsion, diaspora, ostracism, migration

Examples from the Web for exile

Contemporary Examples of exile

A twinned, imagined narrative of a fictitious Fidel Castro and a Miami exile intent on assassinating him.
Book Bag: Great Books About Cuba
Julia Cooke
December 20, 2014
Both the Republicans in Congress and the American-Cuban community in exile have been speaking out against the warming relations.
Up To Speed: The Cuba Embargo
Nina Strochlic
December 18, 2014
He was eventually allowed to leave, but he was forced to resign as ambassador and now lives in Washington, effectively in exile.
Pakistan’s Dance With Terrorists Just Backfired and Killed 132 Children
Chris Allbritton
December 17, 2014
From here I have the chance to blog in Arabic and in English as “Proud Atheist,” but I am now effectively in exile.
What It’s Like to Be an Atheist in Palestine
Waleed al-Husseini, Movements.Org
December 8, 2014
Iran has the highest number of women journalists in prison, and hundreds of Iranian journalists are forced to live in exile.
Iran Journalists to Rouhani: Stop Lying!
IranWire
October 3, 2014

Historical Examples of exile

The best of his works is the Olympian Zeus, made at Elis after his exile.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
A vote was taken on the question of exile, and the black pebbles predominated.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
For each of the fallen wishes to feel that his exile is self-terminable.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
She remembered the bitterness of her month's exile, and its probable cause.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Miss Baker talked persistently about Bermuda; as if my exile had ever been a possibility!
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark

British Dictionary definitions for exile

exile

noun

a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's home or country; banishment

the expulsion of a person from his native land by official decree

a person banished or living away from his home or country; expatriate

verb

to expel from home or country, esp by official decree as a punishment; banish

Derived Formsexilic (ɛɡˈzɪlɪk, ɛkˈsɪlɪk) or exilian, adjective

Word Origin for exile

C13: from Latin exsilium banishment, from exsul banished person; perhaps related to Greek alasthai to wander

Exile

noun

the Exile another name for Babylonian captivity

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exile

c.1300, from Old French essillier "exile, banish, expel, drive off," from Late Latin exilare/exsilare, from Latin exilium/exsilium "banishment, exile," from exul "banished person," from ex- "away" (see ex-) + PIE root *al- "to wander" (cf. Greek alaomai "to wander, stray, or roam about"). Second element derived in ancient times by folk etymology from Latin solum "soil." Related: Exiled; exiling.

c.1300, "forced removal from one's country;" early 14c. as "a banished person;" from Old French exil, essil (12c.), from Latin exilium (see exile (v.)).