exile

exile — noun

1. a situation in which someone is forced to leave their home country and live some

1.nounB2
Definition

a situation in which someone is forced to leave their home country and live somewhere else, often because of their political beliefs or actions.

Example

After the failed uprising, the general lived in exile for twenty years in a remote mountain village.

in exile — prepositional phrase for duration

The writer chose to go into exile rather than write what the government demanded.

go into exile — common verb collocation

Common collocations
  • political exile
  • in exile
  • forced into exile
  • exile from
  • live in exile
  • go into exile
  • return from exile
Synonyms
  • banishment

    stronger emphasis on punishment; more formal

  • expulsion

    can be from any group or place, not just a country

  • displacement

    broader term; may be due to war or disaster, not necessarily political

Antonyms
  • homecoming

    the return to one's home country after time away

  • repatriation

    formal process of being sent back to one's own country

Grammar Patterns

in exile

go into exile

live in exile

send [someone] into exile

Usage Note

Often used with prepositions 'in' or 'into', and frequently follows verbs like 'go', 'live', 'send', or 'force'.

Common Mistakes

He was exile from his country.
He was exiled from his country.
'exile' is a noun; the verb form is 'exiled'.

2. someone who stays in a foreign country because they were ordered to leave their

2.nounB2
Definition

someone who stays in a foreign country because they were ordered to leave their homeland or because they decided to remain away voluntarily.

Example

The cafe in London became a meeting place for exiles from many different countries.

exile from [country/place] — prepositional complement

Nala, an exile from her homeland, wrote poems about the mountains she missed.

Common collocations
  • political exile
  • an exile from
  • fellow exiles
  • exile community
Synonyms
  • expatriate

    more neutral; often implies voluntary departure

  • refugee

    flees danger or persecution; often implies no choice

  • displaced person

    forced to leave home due to war or disaster

Antonyms
  • citizen

    a legal member of a country with full rights

  • native

    a person born in a particular place

Grammar Patterns

a political exile

an exile from [country]

Usage Note

Can describe both forced and voluntary absence. When the reason is political, 'political exile' is common. This sense is a countable noun (a person), unlike sense 1 which describes a state.

Common Mistakes

She is an exile in Paris since 2018.
She has been an exile in Paris since 2018.
use present perfect for ongoing state.

exile — verb

Word family

  • exiled
    adjectiveB2
  • exilic
    adjectiveC1
  • self-exile
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Exile' and 'banish' are the closest pair — both imply forcing someone to leave their homeland, often for political reasons. However, 'banish' has a stronger emotional and literary tone (used in fairy tales and historical drama), while 'exile' is the standard modern term. 'Deport' is narrower and more legal: it means sending a foreign person back to their own country after they have broken immigration rules — the person is not being punished in their own homeland. 'Expel' is the broadest of the four: you can be expelled from a school, a club, or a country, and the reason may or may not be political. For example: the government exiled the journalist for writing critical articles; the school expelled a student for cheating; the UK deported the visa overstayer; the king banished the traitor from the kingdom forever.

banishdeportexpelexile ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • exile community
  • exile government
  • exile literature
  • years of exile
  • life in exile
  • political exile
  • forced exile

Adverbs

  • permanently exiled
  • temporarily exiled
  • politically exiled
  • effectively exiled
  • self-exiled

Phrases

  • in exile
  • into exile
  • sent into exile
  • return from exile
  • live in exile
  • go into exile

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'exile' comes from Latin 'exsilium' (banishment), which is related to 'exsul' (a person living outside their homeland). The 'ex-' part means 'out of', and the second part is thought to come from 'salire' (to leap) — so an exile was originally 'someone who has leapt out of' their country. The word entered English through Old French 'essil' and was later reshaped to match the Latin spelling. By the 1300s it was used in English for both the state of banishment and the person who suffers it.