Meanings
adjectiveexpatriate (not comparable)
nounexpatriate (plural expatriates)
plural expatriates
- One who has been banished from one's own country.
Synonyms: exile
verbexpatriate (third-person singular simple present expatriates, present participle expatriating, simple past and past participle expatriated)
present singular third person expatriates · participle present expatriating · participle past expatriated · past expatriated
- intransitiveTo renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born and become a citizen of another country.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne who lives outside one's own country, especially temporarily for a profession or education.
nounOne who has been banished from one's own country.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchexpatrier
- Latinex-“out of”
- Medieval Latinexpatriātus
- Englishexpatriate
The verb is first attested in 1787, the adjective and noun in 1812; borrowed from Medieval Latin expatriātus, perfect passive participle of expatriō (“to banish”) (see -ate (etymology 1,2 and 3)), from Latin ex- (“out of”) + patria (“native land”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); possibly after French expatrier and expatrié.
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin, French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans expat, ekspat
- expatliving outside of one's own country
- ekspatliving outside of one's own country
- expatperson living outside own country
- ekspatperson living outside own country
- uitgewekeneperson living outside own country
- bannelingperson banished from their own country
Arabic مُغْتَرِب, مَنْفِيّ
- مُغْتَرِب (muḡtarib)person living outside own country
- مَنْفِيّ (manfiyy)person banished from their own country
Bulgarian изгнаник, заточеник
- изгнаник (izgnanik)person living outside own country
- заточеник (zatočenik)person banished from their own country
- заточавам (zatočavam)banish
- изселвам се (izselvam se)withdraw from one’s country
- емигрирам (emigriram)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
Catalan expatriat, expatriat
- expatriatliving outside of one's own country
- expatriatperson living outside own country
- expatriadaperson living outside own country
- expatriarbanish
Chinese Mandarin 僑居的 /侨居的, 僑民 /侨民
- 僑居的 /侨居的 (qiáojū de)living outside of one's own country
- 僑民 /侨民 (qiáomín)person living outside own country
- 僑居國外者 /侨居国外者 (qiáojū guówài zhě)person living outside own country
- 海外國民 /海外国民 (hǎiwài guómín)person living outside own country
- 流人 (liúrén)person banished from their own country
- 流亡者 (liúwángzhě)person banished from their own country
- 放逐 (fàngzhú)banish
- 流放 (liúfàng)banish
- 驅逐出國 /驱逐出国 (qūzhú chūguó)banish
- 離開祖國 /离开祖国 (líkāi zǔguó)withdraw from one’s country
- 背井離鄉 /背井离乡 (bèijǐnglíxiāng)withdraw from one’s country
- 放棄原國籍 /放弃原国籍 (fàngqì yuánguójí)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
- 歸化 /归化 (guīhuà)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
- 取得新國籍 /取得新国籍 (qǔdé xīn guójí)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
Czech expatriant
- expatriantperson living outside own country
Danish udvandrer, udvandrer
- udvandrerliving outside of one's own country
- udvandrerperson living outside own country
- udvistperson banished from their own country
- forvisebanish
- udvandrewithdraw from one’s country
- gå i eksilwithdraw from one’s country
Dutch expat, buitenlander
- expatliving outside of one's own country
- buitenlanderperson living outside own country
- bannelingperson banished from their own country
- verbannenbanish
Esperanto eksterlandano
- eksterlandanoperson living outside own country
Estonian väljarännanu, pagulane
- väljarännanuperson living outside own country
- pagulaneperson banished from their own country
- välja saatmabanish
- välja rändamawithdraw from one’s country
- välja rändamarenounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
Finnish ekspatriaatti-, maastamuuttaja-
- ekspatriaatti-living outside of one's own country
- maastamuuttaja-living outside of one's own country
- ekspatriaattiperson living outside own country
- maastamuuttajaperson living outside own country
- maanpakolainenperson banished from their own country
- karkottaabanish
- ajaa maanpakoonbanish
- muuttaa maastawithdraw from one’s country
- ottaa toisen maan kansalaisuusrenounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
French expatrié, expatriée
- expatriéperson living outside own country
- expatriéeperson living outside own country
German im Ausland lebend, Auswanderer
- im Ausland lebendliving outside of one's own country
- Auswandererperson living outside own country
- Verbannterperson banished from their own country
- Exilantperson banished from their own country
- Exulantperson banished from their own country
- Exilierterperson banished from their own country
- Ausgebürgerterperson banished from their own country
- expatriierenbanish
- ausweisenbanish
- auswandernwithdraw from one’s country
Greek εκπατρισμένος, απόδημος
- εκπατρισμένος (ekpatrisménos)living outside of one's own country
- απόδημος (apódimos)person living outside own country
- ομογενής (omogenís)person living outside own country
- εξόριστος (exóristos)person banished from their own country
- εξορίζω (exorízo)banish
- εκπατρίζω (ekpatrízo)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
Hebrew גולה, מהגר
- גולה (golé)living outside of one's own country
- מהגר (mehagér)living outside of one's own country
- גולה (golé)person living outside own country
- מהגר (mehagér)person living outside own country
Hindi प्रवासी, प्रवासी
- प्रवासी (pravāsī)living outside of one's own country
- प्रवासी (pravāsī)person living outside own country
Hungarian kivándorló, hazájától távol élő ember
- kivándorlóperson living outside own country
- hazájától távol élő emberperson living outside own country
- emigránsperson living outside own country
- külföldiperson living outside own country
- száműzöttperson banished from their own country
Indonesian ekspatriat
- ekspatriatperson living outside own country
Italian espatriato, espatriato
- espatriatoliving outside of one's own country
- espatriatoperson living outside own country
- espatriarewithdraw from one’s country
Japanese 海外居住者の, 海外居住者
- 海外居住者の (kaigai-kyojyūsha no)living outside of one's own country
- 海外居住者 (kaigai-kyojūsha)person living outside own country
- 非居住者 (kaigai-kyojūsha)person living outside own country
- 国外追放者 (kokugai-tsuihōsha)person banished from their own country
- 国外追放する (kokugai-tsuihō suru)banish
- 去る (saru)withdraw from one’s country
- 捨てる (suteru)withdraw from one’s country
- 流出する (ryūshutsu suru)withdraw from one’s country
- 亡命する (boumei suru)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
Malay ekspatriat
- ekspatriatperson living outside own country
Polish ekspatriant, emigrant
- ekspatriantperson living outside own country
- emigrantperson living outside own country
- wygnaniecperson banished from their own country
- wypędzaćbanish
- wygnaćbanish
- wypędzaćwithdraw from one’s country
- wygnaćwithdraw from one’s country
Portuguese expatriado, expatriado
- expatriadoliving outside of one's own country
- expatriadoperson living outside own country
- expatriadoperson banished from their own country
- expatriarbanish
- migrarwithdraw from one’s country
Romanian expatriat, expatriat
- expatriatliving outside of one's own country
- expatriatperson living outside own country
- expatriatăperson living outside own country
- expatriabanish
- se expatriawithdraw from one’s country
Russian эмигра́нтский, эмигра́нт
- эмигра́нтский (emigrántskij)living outside of one's own country
- эмигра́нт (emigránt)person living outside own country
- эмигра́нтка (emigrántka)person living outside own country
- экспатриа́нт (ekspatriánt)person living outside own country
- экспатриа́нтка (ekspatriántka)person living outside own country
- экспа́т (ekspát)person living outside own country
- релока́нт (relokánt)person living outside own country
- изгна́нник (izgnánnik)person banished from their own country
- эмигри́ровать (emigrírovatʹ)renounce citizenship and become a citizen of another country
Spanish expatriado, expatriado
- expatriadoliving outside of one's own country
- expatriadoperson living outside own country
- expatriadoperson banished from their own country
- expatriarbanish
- expatriarsewithdraw from one’s country
Swedish utvandrare, emigrant
- utvandrareperson living outside own country
- emigrantperson living outside own country
- landsflyktningperson banished from their own country
- förvisabanish
- bannlysabanish
- utvandrawithdraw from one’s country
- emigrerawithdraw from one’s country
Turkish gurbetçi, sürgün
- gurbetçiperson living outside own country
- sürgünperson banished from their own country
Cite this entry
APA
expatriate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expatriate
MLA
“expatriate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expatriate. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “expatriate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expatriate.
Source: expatriate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.