expatriation

noun

ex·​pa·​tri·​a·​tion (ˌ)ek-ˌspā-trē-ˈā-shən How to pronounce expatriation (audio)
plural expatriations
: removal or withdrawal from one's native land : the act or an instance of expatriating or the state of being expatriated
The brutal expatriation of thousands of Cherokee to Indian Territory is now commonly referred to as the Trail of Tears.
A central purpose of their expatriation was to escape the burdensome rules and customs of the native land, and they were in no hurry to assume a foreign set of obligations.Joseph O'Neill
At the time, however, the most prominent American poets of the Modernist golden age of the 1920s felt betrayed by the expatriation of Pound and Eliot and considered their poetry insufficiently American.Monroe K. Spears

Examples of expatriation in a Sentence

the brutal expatriation of thousands of Cherokee to Indian Territory is now commonly referred to as the Trail of Tears
Recent Examples on the Web Georges Simenon tried to escape his mother via success and money and expatriation, writing nearly four hundred novels and becoming very rich. Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 6 June 2023 Is its primary purpose to deter expatriation (preventing episodes like the one involving Ratcliffe), or to seek equivalence to the capital gain outcome that would have occurred if an actual sale took place the day before the person left the country? Robert Goulder, Forbes, 7 June 2021 Pessoa would spend most of the next decade in Durban, and Zenith reasonably conjectures that expatriation at such a young age, into the household of a stepfather, no less, to which five half siblings were rapidly added, contributed to Pessoa’s lifelong attitude and posture as a stranger. Benjamin Kunkel, Harper's Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021 Compared with the 36,840 names that have appeared on the Federal Register’s expatriation list this decade, fewer than 2,500 were published for 2005 through 2009. Jo Craven McGinty, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2020 Many people are fascinated by the Black expatriate experience, but most of that expatriation happened in the late twenties and early thirties. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2022 The physical act of expatriation becomes a realization event. Robert Goulder, Forbes, 7 June 2021 Black women have charted a travel path that includes everything from exploration and expatriation to building luxury businesses and high-quality experiences. Imani Bashir, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Aug. 2020 His assumption that expatriation is key to successful criticism is false. WSJ, 18 Aug. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'expatriation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1765, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of expatriation was in 1765

Dictionary Entries Near expatriation

Cite this Entry

“Expatriation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expatriation. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

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