Diaspora

The definition of a diaspora is the dispersion of people from their homeland or a community formed by people who have exited or been removed from their homeland.

(noun)

  1. An example of a diaspora is the 6th century exile of Jews from outside Israel to Babylon.
  2. An example of a diaspora is a community of Jewish people settled together after they were dispersed from another land.

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See Diaspora in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

    1. the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian Exile
    2. the Jews thus dispersed
    3. the places where they settled
  1. any scattering of people with a common origin, background, beliefs, etc.

Origin: Gr diaspora, a scattering < diasperein, to scatter < dia-, across + speirein, to sow: see spore

See Diaspora in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century B.C., when they were exiled to Babylonia, until the present time.
  2. often diaspora The body of Jews or Jewish communities outside Palestine or modern Israel.
  3. diaspora
    a. A dispersion of a people from their original homeland.
    b. The community formed by such a people: “the glutinous dish known throughout the [West African] diaspora as … fufu” (Jonell Nash).
  4. diaspora A dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture: “the diaspora of English into several mutually incomprehensible languages” (Randolph Quirk).

Origin:

Origin: Greek diasporā, dispersion

Origin: , from diaspeirein, to spread about

Origin: : dia-, apart; see dia-

Origin: + speirein, to sow, scatter; see sper- in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

  • diasporic, diasporal adjective
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