exile

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: the state or a period of forced absence from one's country or home
b
: the state or a period of voluntary absence from one's country or home
2
: a person who is in exile
exilic adjective

exile

2 of 2

verb

exiled; exiling

transitive verb

: to banish or expel from one's own country or home
Choose the Right Synonym for exile

banish, exile, deport, transport mean to remove by authority from a state or country.

banish implies compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own.

banished for seditious activities

exile may imply compulsory removal or an enforced or voluntary absence from one's own country.

a writer who exiled himself for political reasons

deport implies sending out of the country an alien who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged inimical to the public welfare.

illegal aliens will be deported

transport implies sending a convicted criminal to an overseas penal colony.

a convict who was transported to Australia

Examples of exile in a Sentence

Noun They hoped that his exile would be temporary. Many chose to live as exiles rather than face persecution. Verb with their conquest of the Moors complete, Ferdinand and Isabella next exiled the Jews from Spain
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Israel also freed 242 Palestinian prisoners serving long-term sentences, sending more than half of them into exile. Jane Arraf, NPR, 15 Oct. 2025 Once-influential leftist factions—the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine—have been ground down by decades of arrests, exile, funding collapse, and irrelevance. Mohammed R. Mhawish, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1948, Vicuña was exiled from her native country in the early 1970s following the violent military coup that ousted President Salvador Allende. News Desk, Artforum, 10 Oct. 2025 In Sacramento and San Diego, Democrats reign supreme, holding every office and legislative supermajorities so entrenched that opposing views have been exiled. John H Bolthouse, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for exile

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English exil, from Anglo-French essil, exil, from Latin exilium, from exul, exsul an exile

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of exile was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Exile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exile. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

exile

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: an act or instance of being forced to leave one's country or home
also : voluntary absence from one's country or home
b
: the state of one so absent
2
: a person who is in exile

exile

2 of 2 verb
exiled; exiling
: to force to leave one's own country or home

More from Merriam-Webster on exile

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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