homeland
Americannoun
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one's native land.
-
a region created or considered as a state by or for a people of a particular ethnic origin.
the Palestinian homeland.
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any of the thirteen racially and ethnically based regions created in South Africa by the South African government as nominally independent tribal ministates to which Black people were formerly assigned.
noun
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the country in which one lives or was born
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the official name for a Bantustan
Etymology
Origin of homeland
Explanation
A homeland is the country where a group originally comes from, or where a person was born. If your grandparents and great-grandparents are Greek, you might consider Greece your homeland. If you were born in Iran and raised in Canada, it might be important to you to think of Iran as your homeland, or the place you and your ancestors come from. In addition to being your birthplace, your homeland holds a lot of your cultural identity. Sometimes homeland is used in a nationalistic or even racist way, emphasizing that only certain ethnic groups are "native" to a certain country. The Old English root, hamland simply meant "enclosed pasture."
Vocabulary lists containing homeland
Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Introductory
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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.
"We got to protect the homeland and we're going to do that, but obviously we want to work with community leaders," he said in March.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
Lapid is not especially well-liked in his homeland.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
Geryes Bejjani, a 33-year-old Lebanese man, said he had come with friends to "carry a message of peace and coexistence," despite the difficulty of travelling from his homeland which has been dragged into the war.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
Claim: “They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles and would have soon had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe, and virtually any other place on earth.”
From Slate • Apr. 2, 2026
But he was glad to be homeland grinning.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
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.
