exclave

play

noun ex·clave \ ˈek-ˌsklāv , -ˌskläv \

Definition of exclave

:a portion of a country separated from the main part and constituting an enclave in respect to the surrounding territory

exclave was our Word of the Day on 06/12/2008. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of exclave from the Web

On Wednesday, Shoigu’s jet was bound for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, when it was approached by an F-16, the Russian reports said.

— andrew roth, Washington Post, "NATO jet approached plane carrying Russian defense minister, reports say," 21 June 2017
The Russian defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, was flying to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad when the face-off with the NATO jet occurred, Russian news media reported.

— ivan nechepurenko, New York Times, "NATO Fighter Jets Buzz Plane Carrying Russia’s Defense Minister," 21 June 2017
The alliance is also preparing to go on alert for Moscow's massive Zapad military exercise this summer in Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which will feature close to 100,000 troops moving on the border of several NATO nations.

— chicagotribune.com, "US scrambles to shore up faltering Afghan war effort," 12 May 2017
The village is actually in a small exclave of the UAE that's entirely surrounded by the country Oman.

— sophie weiner, Popular Mechanics, "The World's Most Absurd and Confusing Borders," 5 May 2017
Russian President Vladimir Putin has pilfered parts of Ukraine and has heavily fortified the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between NATO nations Poland and Lithuania.

— chicago tribune, Twin Cities, "Other voices: Trump confronts NATO’s free-riders," 21 Feb. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exclave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the key to "exclave" is found in "enclave." "Enclave" itself ultimately derives from the Latin word for "key," which is "clavis." It was adopted in the mid-19th century from Middle French enclaver ("to enclose"), which in turn derives (through Vulgar Latin) from in- and clavis. "Exclave" was formed about twenty years later by combining the prefix ex- and the "-clave" of "enclave." Other "clavis" descendants in English include "autoclave," "clavicle," "conclave," and "clavichord" ("an early keyboard instrument in use before the piano").