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exile

Etymology and origin of the English word exile

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1300
Borrowed from
Old French exil via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (exul)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɛɡˌzaɪl/, /ˈɛkˌsaɪl/[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English exil, borrowed from Old French exil (“banishment”) (earlier essil),[2][3][4] from Latin exilium (“banishment, place of exile”),[2][3] from exul (“a banished person”),[2][3] from ex (“away”) and a second element of disputed origin, perhaps related to ambulō (“to walk”) (see amble)[2][4] or, according to Watkins, to a root meaning to wander;[3] de Vaan considers several explanations possible.[3] The verb is from exilier, from Late Latin exiliō.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Enforced removal from one's native land: probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin, in Barnhart, before 1300 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline.[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

A banished person is from about 1300 (about 1330 in the OED), from Latin exsul.[3][5] The verb, to banish, is from before 1325.[2] Prolonged absence from one's country, even if voluntary, is from 1393.[5] An obsolete sense, the waste or ruin of property, is from 1267.[5] The Old English gloss for the Latin noun was ūtlanda.[3] The Exile is another name for the Babylonian captivity of the Jews.[6]

Timeline

  • 1267 – waste of property (obsolete).[5]
  • before 1300 – banishment.[2][5]
  • before 1325 – to exile (verb).[2]
  • c. 1330 – a banished person.[5]
  • 1393 – voluntary expatriation.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Enforced or voluntary absence from one's home country; banishment.
  2. A person who lives away from their country, especially by force; an expatriate.

Verb

  1. To expel from one's home or country; to banish.

Word family

  • exilic
  • exilable
  • exiler
  • exilarch
  • government-in-exile
  • self-exile
  • unexiled
  • tax exile
  • amble
  • banish

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Exile.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/exile. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·