asylum

asylum — noun

1. the legal right to remain in a foreign state, granted by its authorities when re

1.nounC1
Definition

the legal right to remain in a foreign state, granted by its authorities when returning home would put the person at risk of imprisonment, violence, or persecution — typically because of war, political beliefs, or membership of a targeted group.

Example

Maria fled Belarus in 2020 and was granted political asylum in Germany.

passive: be granted asylum in [country]

The journalist sought asylum at the French embassy after receiving death threats.

collocation: seek asylum at [embassy]

Common collocations
  • seek asylum
  • grant asylum
  • refuse asylum
  • claim asylum
  • political asylum
  • asylum seeker
  • asylum claim
Synonyms
  • refuge

    broader and less formal; can mean any safe place, not specifically a legal status.

  • sanctuary

    often religious or symbolic; less commonly used for the formal legal right.

  • safe haven

    describes a protective place or zone, not the legal status itself.

Antonyms
  • deportation

    the opposite outcome — being forced back to one's home country.

  • extradition

    being handed over to another country to face charges, the legal opposite of asylum.

Grammar Patterns

seek/grant/refuse asylum

asylum in [country]

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable. Frequently passive ('be granted/refused asylum') and pairs with a specific country or embassy. Common derived forms: 'asylum seeker' (a person waiting for a decision) and 'asylum claim/application'.

Common Mistakes

She made an asylum to Canada.
She sought asylum in Canada.
asylum is not something you make; the verbs are seek, claim, apply for, grant, refuse.
He got an asylum last year.
He was granted asylum last year.
asylum is uncountable, so no 'an' or plural; it is granted rather than 'gotten'.

2. an old-fashioned name for a large institution that housed and treated people suf

2.nounC2
Definition

an old-fashioned name for a large institution that housed and treated people suffering from severe mental illness, often confining them for many years; today the word is mostly limited to historical contexts.

Example

In 1890, Aunt Beatrice was sent to a county asylum and never came home.

historical context: be sent to an asylum

The novel is set in a Victorian asylum on the windswept Yorkshire moors.

collocation: Victorian/county asylum

Common collocations
  • lunatic asylum
  • Victorian asylum
  • county asylum
  • sent to an asylum
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

a/the asylum

in an asylum

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is countable ('an asylum', 'asylums'), while sense 1 is uncountable. Considered dated and sometimes offensive when applied to modern care; 'psychiatric hospital' or 'mental health facility' is the current neutral term.

Common Mistakes

My grandmother works at the local asylum.
My grandmother works at the local psychiatric hospital.
for a present-day institution, use 'psychiatric hospital'; 'asylum' sounds outdated and stigmatising.
He suffers from asylum.
He is being treated at an asylum.
asylum is a place, not a condition or illness.

Word family

  • asylee
    nounC2
  • asylum seeker
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words involve protection from danger, but they differ in scope and formality. 'Asylum' is the narrowest and most legal: it names the formal right a state grants someone fleeing persecution, as in 'apply for asylum'. 'Refuge' is broader and more everyday — it can be the act of escaping ('take refuge from the storm') or the place itself, with no legal weight. 'Sanctuary' carries a religious or moral tone, suggesting a protected place such as a church or wildlife reserve where someone or something cannot be harmed. 'Safe haven' is journalistic and figurative, describing a country or zone where threatened people can stay safely, but it is not a legal status. So a refugee may take refuge in a church (sanctuary), travel to a safe haven, and finally be granted asylum.

asylum ↗refuge ↗sanctuary ↗safe haven

Common collocations

Nouns

  • asylum seeker
  • asylum claim
  • asylum application
  • asylum policy

Adverbs

Phrases

  • seek asylum
  • grant asylum
  • claim asylum
  • refuse asylum
  • be denied asylum

Prepositions

  • asylum in [country]
  • asylum from [danger]
  • asylum at [embassy]

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Asylum comes from the Greek 'asylon', meaning 'a place that cannot be plundered', built from 'a-' (not) plus 'sylon' (the right to seize). It passed through Latin into English in the 1400s as a word for any safe refuge, especially a holy place where a fugitive could not be arrested. By the 1700s it began to be used for institutions that sheltered the poor or the mentally ill, and from the 1800s it took on its modern political meaning of state protection for people fleeing persecution.