exile

The word “exile” means the state of being forced to live away from your home country, often for political reasons. In plain terms, being forced out of your home country, or the person this happens to.

“Exile” is pronounced EHG-zyl (/ˈɛɡˌzaɪl/ in IPA).

Here is “exile” used in a sentence: “He spent twenty years in exile before the regime finally collapsed.”

Depending on how it is used, “exile” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “exile” comes from Latin. From Old French exil, from Latin exsilium, "banishment," related to exsul, "a banished person.".

“Exile” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Exile” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the state of being forced to live away from your home country, often for political reasons.

Exile specifically implies someone has been forced out of their home country, often for political reasons or as punishment, while refugee more broadly describes someone who has fled their country, often due to war, persecution, or disaster, without necessarily being formally banished.

Exile is the state of being forced to live away from one's home country, often carrying political or punitive weight, while deportation is the formal legal process of removing someone from a country, often for immigration violations. Exile can result from deportation but also occurs through political banishment or self-imposed absence.

The core definition of exile involves being forced out, but the term is sometimes used loosely for people who leave their home country by choice to escape persecution or danger, a usage sometimes called "self-imposed exile."