homeland

American  

[hohm-land, -luhnd] / ˈhoʊmˌlænd, -lənd /

noun

• homelands
  plural

1. one's native land.

2. a region created or considered as a state by or for a people of a particular ethnic origin.

   the Palestinian homeland.

3. 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.

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homeland British  

/ ˈhəʊmˌlænd /

noun

1. the country in which one lives or was born

2. the official name for a Bantustan

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• homelands
  plural

Etymology

Origin of homeland

First recorded in 1660–70; home + land

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

homeland homelands

On his walls, portraits of Kuwait's emir and crown prince hang alongside a plaque reading: "There is no place like the homeland, and no homeland like Kuwait."

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

People who have spoken to him in recent months say the prince has seemed increasingly wistful about his homeland and is optimistic about how he is viewed there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

"Guaranteeing our naval and joint forces have the lethal firepower they need to deter aggression and protect the homeland is paramount," Cao said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

A title winner in his homeland while managing Union Saint-Gilloise, the 39-year-old brings a reputation for playing eye-catching football.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

She was deeply troubled, and there was no need to explain: every strand of moss, every icy puddle, every midge in her homeland thrilled against her nerves and called her back.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

These lands were part of the indigenous homelands of the Jewish people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Deported not to their homelands but to unfamiliar cities deep inside Mexico, thousands of migrants are stranded in a dangerous, bureaucratic limbo with little support and no clear path forward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

The new policy, set by the California Natural Resources Agency, aims to start healing the harm caused by the state’s actions to bar tribes from their homelands and criminalize their cultural and land management practices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

President David Adeang also floated the possibility of sending the immigrants -- some of whom advocacy groups say are refugees -- back to their homelands.

From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025

When did the Bantu reach the former Pygmy and Khoisan homelands?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• motherland