repatriate

[verb ree-pey-tree-eyt or, esp. British, -pa-; noun ree-pey-tree-it or, esp. British, -pa-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR repatriate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), re·pa·tri·at·ed, re·pa·tri·at·ing.

to bring or send back (a person, especially a prisoner of war, a refugee, etc.) to his or her country or land of citizenship.

(of profits or other assets) to send back to one's own country.

verb (used without object), re·pa·tri·at·ed, re·pa·tri·at·ing.

to return to one's own country: to repatriate after 20 years abroad.

noun

a person who has been repatriated.

Origin of repatriate

1605–15; < Late Latin repatriātus (past participle of repatriāre to return to one's fatherland), equivalent to Latin re- re- + patri(a) native country (noun use of feminine of patrius paternal, derivative of pater father) + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsre·pa·tri·a·ble

[ree-pey-tree-uh-buh l or, esp. British, -pa-] /riˈpeɪ tri ə bəl or, esp. British, -ˈpæ-/, adjectivere·pa·tri·a·tion, nounnon·re·pa·tri·a·ble, adjectivenon·re·pa·tri·a·tion, nounun·re·pa·tri·at·ed, adjective

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

Related Words for repatriation

recovery, revival, renewal, refurbishment, rehabilitation, reconstruction, renovation, reinstatement, reparation, recuperation, return, redemption, rejuvenation, reimbursement, revivification, remedy, cure, healing, replacement, restitution

Examples from the Web for repatriation

Contemporary Examples of repatriation

A repatriation ceremony would help bury the ignominious squabbles of the past.
Incontrovertible Evidence Proves the First Americans Came From Asia
Doug Peacock
March 27, 2014
Zionism was not about colonization; it was about repatriation.
Despite Hebron's Importance, Israel Will Have to Give It Up
Samuel Lebens
October 28, 2013
International agencies assume the solution for nearly all refugees is repatriation once the fighting stops.
Between Two Catastrophes: Look at Syria, and Question Everyone's Stories about 1948
Gershom Gorenberg
September 23, 2013
Is Germany's repatriation of its gold reserves from storage in New York and Paris a signal of declining confidence in the Euro?
Germany Calls Home the Gold
David Frum
January 16, 2013
This is common Zionist parlance in response to the idea of equal voting rights or repatriation for Palestinians.
This Duck Is an Apartheid Duck
Yousef Munayyer
March 22, 2012

Historical Examples of repatriation

They were also making arrangements for the repatriation of the Coolies.
Chitta Ranjan
Sukumar Ranjan Das
The Government declined to make any arrangement for their repatriation.
Chitta Ranjan
Sukumar Ranjan Das
They inform me that orders have been received approving your application for repatriation.
Aces Up
Covington Clarke
His repatriation to the Caucasus was now only a matter of days.
Caught by the Turks
Francis Yeats-Brown
Here there will not be, as was the case with the Armenians, any work of repatriation to be done.
Crescent and Iron Cross
E. F. Benson

British Dictionary definitions for repatriation

repatriate

verb (riːˈpætrɪˌeɪt) (tr)

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 (riːˈpætrɪɪt)

a person who has been repatriated

Derived Formsrepatriation, noun

Word Origin for repatriate

C17: from Late Latin repatriāre from Latin re- + patria fatherland; compare repair ²

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 repatriation

1590s, from Late Latin reparationem (nominative repatriatio), noun of action from past participle stem of repatriare "return to one's own country," from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + patria "native land" (see patriot).

repatriate

1610s, from Late Latin repatriatus, past participle of repatriare "return to one's country" (see repatriation). Related: Repatriated; repatriating.