repatriate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
repatriates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repatriated,
past participle, past
-
repatriating
present participle
-
to bring or send back (a person, especially a prisoner of war, a refugee, etc.) to their country or land of citizenship.
-
to send (profits or other assets) back to one's own country.
-
to restore to a country that has attained sovereignty something that was formerly held or administered on that country’s behalf by a colonial power.
In 1982, the Trudeau government repatriated Canada's constitution from Britain.
verb (used without object)
-
repatriates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repatriated,
past participle, past
-
repatriating
present participle
noun
verb
-
to send back (a refugee, prisoner of war, etc) to the country of his birth or citizenship
-
to send back (a sum of money previously invested abroad) to its country of origin
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
repatriatesimple
-
repatriatessimple
-
have repatriatedperfect
-
has repatriatedperfect
-
am repatriatingprogressive
-
are repatriatingprogressive
-
is repatriatingprogressive
-
have been repatriatingperfect progressive
-
has been repatriatingperfect progressive
Past
-
repatriatedsimple
-
had repatriatedperfect
-
was repatriatingprogressive
-
were repatriatingprogressive
-
had been repatriatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repatriate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin repatriātus (past participle of repatriāre “to return to one's fatherland”), equivalent to Latin re- “again, back” + patri(a) “native country” (noun use of feminine of patrius “paternal,” derivative of pater “father”) + -ātus past participle suffix; see re-, father, -ate 1
Explanation
When a country repatriates people, they are usually refugees who are being sent back to their homeland, often against their wishes. It is possible for a person to repatriate himself, choosing to return to a country he's left for political or economic reasons, but the verb repatriate is more often used to mean "send refugees home." It might sound like a modern political term, but repatriate has been used since the 1600s. It comes from the Latin word repatriare, "return to one's own country," from the prefix re, "back," and patria, "native land."
Vocabulary lists containing repatriate
Not Your Father's Word List: Pater, Patr
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"The Latehomecomer," Vocabulary from the memoir excerpt
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Salt to the Sea
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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.
See Examples For:
The proposed agreement with RN states that France would "ordinarily accept" those on board, and then repatriate them to their home country.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
“Fifty percent of our population is Venezuelan, and our ability to repatriate them has been extremely limited,” said Dawnisha Helland, ICE’s acting assistant director of enforcement and removal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
TUI had issued a profit warning in April, weeks after the Mideast war forced it to repatriate 10,000 travellers, including 5,000 people stuck on two cruise ships in the Gulf.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Under the new system, Chinese founders listing offshore must repatriate share-sale earnings back to China and pay taxes before investing overseas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
My identity card said Resettler, indicating that Germany had allowed me to repatriate from Lithuania.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
From Agadez, the U.N. migration agency repatriates them to their countries of origin with the financial help of the European Union.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
Plus, Robert Egan leaves the vaunted OPC, and the Getty repatriates works, in our weekly arts newsletter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
"India has very robust child protection laws and if the German court repatriates her, she can be looked after in India," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2023
Like other major export manufacturers, it benefits from a cheaper yen when it repatriates profits earned overseas.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2023
Then suddenly came the announcement: “Japanese repatriates will begin disembarking beginning with R through V.”
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
Diane Wolfe does not believe the vigango need to be repatriated, but she distinguished that from her willingness to see portions of the broader collection return to Africa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Historically, companies have repatriated around 60% of their foreign-affiliate earnings on average, they note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
More than 200,000 people fled, according to an AFP tally based on figures released by African governments that have repatriated their nationals.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
The South African government says more than 53,000 foreign nationals have recently been deported or voluntarily repatriated.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
With one successfully repatriated daughter, Papi might yank us all out of college and send us back.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Releasing updated figures on Tuesday, Zimbabwe's cabinet said 108,366 of its people had come home as of July 18, a majority of them self repatriating.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Last month, Sherritt said it was suspending operations and repatriating staff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Conscious of the difficulties of repatriating Behzad's artworks, Barry instead enlarged and reproduced them in 2017 for an exhibition at Herat's citadel.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
The cost of repatriating the items has been prepaid by the tribes, which plan to hold ceremonies before they can be officially returned, according to CBC.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025
He was either critical of the Nazi Party, critical of me for repatriating, or both.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
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