Exile Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of EXILE

1

a

[noncount]

:

a situation in which you are forced to leave your country or home and go to live in a foreign country

• They hoped that his exile would be temporary.

— often used after in or into

• forced into exile
• He went into exile to avoid capture and execution by the government.
• He now lives in exile in the United States.

— sometimes used figuratively

• She went into political exile [=she stopped being involved in politics] after the last election.

b

[count]

:

a period of time during which someone has lived in exile

• a five-year exile

2

[count]

:

a person who has been forced to live in a foreign country

:

a person who is in exile

• Many chose to live as exiles rather than face persecution.

— see also tax exile

Britannica Dictionary definition of EXILE

[+ object]

:

to force (someone) to go to live in a distant place or foreign country

:

to force (someone) into exile

— usually used as (be) exiled

• The President was exiled by military rulers soon after the coup.
• an exiled writer
• dissidents exiled to Siberia