asylum Hear it!

asylum Definition

asy·lum (ə sī′ləm)

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

asylum Synonyms

asylum

n.

shelter, refuge, safety; see shelter. See syn. study atshelter.

asylum Law Definition

n

A place of refuge, sanctuary, or shelter, especially an institution for the maintenance and care of people requiring special assistance.
political asylum
  1. The decision by a country’s government to allow within its border a person from another country and to protect that person from prosecution and persecution by that other country’s government.
  2. The protection and refuge granted by a country to citizens and residents of other countries who obtain entry unto the premises of its foreign embassies and consulates.
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.
  • refuse: Applicants who are refused asylum may be granted ' exceptional leave to remain ' .
  • claim: Only two out of ten people who claim asylum in Britain today are genuine refugees.
  • grant: This includes helping refugees with resettlement once the Home Office has granted asylum.

Adjective modifier

  • lunatic: She ended up in a lunatic asylum shortly afterward.
  • unaccompanied: Read more NASS has launched informal consultation on an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Reform Program.
  • insane: Her insane asylums are filled and the prisons are bursting with people.
  • political: With death threats ringing in his ears, Coleman fled with his family to Sweden, and was granted political asylum.
  • mental: This movement attempted to develop an alternative to the Victorian practice of placing people with epilepsy in mental asylums.
  • colonial: Mills ' analysis of the production of knowledge about cannabis in the colonial asylum is quite outstanding.

Modifies a noun

  • seeker: Each asylum seeker detained there brings profit to GSL.
  • claim: The ECHR contains Article 3 under which asylum claims can be made.
  • applicant: For example 9 out of 10 asylum applicants remain in Britain whether or not their case is accepted.
  • claimant: On average, the European Union received 1 asylum claimant per 1,000 inhabitants during 2002 ( 3 ).
  • application: They seek refugee status in another country by lodging an asylum application.
  • appeal: Action An asylum support appeal form must be lodged ( i.e. received by the ASA ) within 3 working days of the decision.

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 " .
  • orphan: They decide to employ a boy to help them with the duties on their farm and approach the orphan asylum for suggestions.
  • county: The number of county asylum beds was never sufficient to meet the demand.
asylum Quotes

All America is an insane asylum.

—Pound, Ezra Loomis

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