diaspora

noun

di·​as·​po·​ra dī-ˈa-sp(ə-)rə 

dē-

plural diasporas

1

often Diaspora plural Diasporas Judaism

a

: the Jews living outside Israel

—usually used with the

… contributions made by the Diaspora to Israel's well-being …

—Idan Roll

b

: the settling of scattered communities of Jews outside ancient Palestine after the Babylonian exile

Sephardi Jews began their diaspora into lands including North Africa and Anatolia in the late 15th century …

—Brendan Lavell

c

: the area outside ancient Palestine settled by Jews

The history of the Jewish people has been precisely a journey … out of ancient Babylon to the promised land, into the Diaspora, and then a sojourning in nearly all the lands of the world's nations …

—Sharon L. Coggan

2

or less commonly Diaspora

a

: people settled far from their ancestral homelands

—often used with the

members of the African diaspora

b

: the places where people settled and established communities far from their ancestral homelands

The festival features 12 films from across the Caribbean and its diasporas: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Martinique, the UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Bahamas …

—Daily News (New York)

c

: the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland

the Black diaspora from the rural South to northern cities

3

: the fact or condition of being a member of a diaspora

But centuries of migration for many mean many live in diaspora, and not always—Jew or not—experiencing diaspora as exile.

—Melanie Kaye

Written from her point of view as an Arab in diaspora, [Reem] Assil takes readers on a journey through her Palestinian and Syrian roots, showing how her heritage has inspired her recipes …

—Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

diasporic

ˌdī-ə-ˈspȯr-ik 

adjective

Unlike in India where festivities are public and widespread, diasporic celebrations are more regulated to specific spaces and times.

—Rina Arya

Did you know?

The Beginnings of the Word Diaspora

Until recently diaspora was thought to be a fairly new word in English to describe a very old thing (its first, and principal, meaning relates to the settling of the Jewish people outside of Palestine after the Babylonian exile thousands of years ago). However, recent research has found that the word is quite a bit older than previously thought. It can be found as far back as 1594, in a translation of Lambert Daneau’s A Fruitfull Commentarie vpon the Twelue Small Prophets: “This scattering abrode of the Iewes, as it were an heauenly sowing, fell out after their returne from the captiuitie of Babylon … they are called Diaspora, that is, a scattering or sowing abrode.” Diaspora is descended from the Greek word diaspeirein, meaning “to scatter, spread about.”

Examples of diaspora in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Minnesota’s Somali diaspora With around 84,000 of the state’s roughly 108,000 Somali Americans concentrated in the Twin Cities, the contingent has become a potent voting bloc in the region. —Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 2 Jan. 2026

The symbol of this holiday, celebrating the African diaspora culture and community, is a seven-candle kinara. —Mara Williams, Kansas City Star, 31 Dec. 2025

The actor also co-founded Elba Hope Foundation with his wife, Sabrina Elba, a charity that supports diaspora communities and creates opportunities for them. —Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025

Diwali is important, both festively and culturally, for Indians and the greater South Asian diaspora, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, noted, and the new designation will not only be meaningful to those who celebrate the holiday but also help introduce it throughout the state. —Linh Tat, Oc Register, 30 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Greek, dispersion, from diaspeirein to scatter, from dia- + speirein to sow

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1b