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asylum definition

asy·lum (ə sīləm)

noun

  1. Obsolete a sanctuary, as a temple, where criminals, debtors, etc. were safe from arrest
  2. a place where one is safe and secure; refuge
  3. the protection given by a sanctuary or refuge or by one country to refugees from another country
  4. an institution for the care of the mentally ill, or of the aged, the poor, etc.: in this sense, largely replaced by such terms as mental (or psychiatric) hospital, nursing home, etc.

Etymology: L < Gr asylon < asylos, inviolable < a-, without + sylon, right of seizure

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:
asylum Synonyms

asylum

n.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

asylum Usage Examples

Preposition: from

  • persecution: Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

Converse of object

  • seek: People seeking asylum are not normally allowed to work in the UK.

Adjective modifier

  • lunatic: She ended up in a lunatic asylum shortly afterward.

Modifies a noun

  • seeker: Each asylum seeker detained there brings profit to GSL.

Noun used with modifier

  • lunatic: In the years before Hampshire's county lunatic asylum existed, the Winchester workhouse provided care for " lunatic and mentally handicapped paupers " .
asylum usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

asylum quotes

It seems as though I were in a lunatic asylum, but I am never sure who is the attendant and who the inmate.

-Conant,James Bryant

All America is an insane asylum.

-Pound, Ezra Loomis

asylum quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"asylum." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/asylum>

APA Style

asylum. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/asylum

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