diaspora

Di·as·po·ra

noun

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.

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

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Diaspora." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora.

APA Style

Diaspora. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora

Diaspora

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

Origin of Diaspora

Classical Greek diaspora, a scattering from diasperein, to scatter from dia-, across + speirein, to sow: see spore

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Diaspora." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora.

APA Style

Diaspora. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora

Diaspora

noun

The dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century BC, when they were exiled to Babylonia, until the present time.
often diaspora The body of Jews or Jewish communities outside Palestine or modern Israel.
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 )
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 of Diaspora

Greek diasporā dispersion from diaspeirein to spread about dia- apart ; see dia- . speirein to sow, scatter ; see sper- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

di·as′po·ric di·as′po·ral
adjective

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Diaspora." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora.

APA Style

Diaspora. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora

Noun

(plural diasporas)

The dispersion of the Jews among the Gentiles after the Captivity.
Any similar dispersion.
The African diaspora caused a melding of cultures, both African cultures and Western ones, in many places.
A group so dispersed, especially Jews outside of the land of Israel.
The regions where such a dispersed group (especially the Jews) resides, taken collectively.
Jews in the diaspora often have a different perspective of anti-Semitism from Israeli Jews.
Any dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture.

Origin

From Ancient Greek διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”), from διασπείρω (diaspeirō, “I scatter”), from διά (dia, “across”) + σπείρω (speirō, “I sow”).

Proper noun

The dispersion of the Jews from the land of Israel.
The Jews so dispersed, taken collectively.
A similar dispersion.

Usage notes

(similar dispersion): In this sense the term is frequently qualified, for example as “the African Diaspora”.

Origin

See diaspora.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Diaspora." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora.

APA Style

Diaspora. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Diaspora

diaspora

Diaspora

Diaspora

Sentence Examples

Also Mentioned In

WORDS NEAR Diaspora IN THE DICTIONARY

diaspora

Diaspora

Diaspora

Sentence Examples

Also Mentioned In

WORDS NEAR Diaspora IN THE DICTIONARY

Join YourDictionary today