Exile: Definition, Usage & Common Mistakes

Meaning 1：expel (someone) from their country (exile)

exile 🔊

/ˈɛɡ.zaɪl/

vt.

To force someone to leave their own country, often for political reasons, and not allow them to return.

Exile scene: person escorted by security at airport border control, leaving their country.

expel (someone) from their country 🔊

➕

/ɪkˈspɛl (ˈsʌmˌwʌn) frəm ðɛər ˈkʌntri/

vt.

To force someone to leave their country and forbid their return, typically as a political punishment.

📁 Category：Countries & Government 🔖 Level：中级

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'exsilium', meaning banishment; 'ex-' (out) + '-silium' (leap/sojourn).

💡 Mnemonic

Think: 'EX-it the ISLE'. To exile is to force someone to exit their home isle or country.

📖 Example

The peace activist was exiled from his country after speaking out against the government. 🔊 The peace activist was expelled from his country after speaking out against the government.

🔗 Collocations

exile someone from – To banish a person from a specific country or place.

live in exile – To reside in a foreign country after being forced to leave one's homeland.

go into exile – To leave one's country, usually under political pressure or threat.

🔄 Synonyms

banish (vt.) – To send someone away from a country or place as an official punishment.

deport (vt.) – To expel a foreigner from a country, typically for legal violations or lack of legal status.

ostracize (vt.) – To exclude someone from a society or group, though not necessarily from a country.

🚫 Antonyms

welcome (vt.) – To greet or receive someone with pleasure into a place or country.

repatriate (vt.) – To restore or return someone to their own country.

reintegrate (vt.) – To restore someone to a place within society or their community.

🌱 Derivatives

exile (n.) – A person who lives away from their native country, either by choice or compulsion.

exilic (adj.) – Relating to or characteristic of a period of exile.

📖 Cultural Story

The word derives from Latin 'exsilium', meaning 'banishment, a being away from home'. It has long been used to describe the politically charged act of forcing someone to leave their homeland, a punishment common throughout history for dissenters.