Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The condition or period of being forced to live away from one's native country or home, especially as a punishment.
  • noun The condition or period of self-imposed absence from one's country or home.
  • noun One who lives away from one's native country, whether because of expulsion or voluntary absence.
  • transitive verb To send into exile; banish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To banish from a country or from a particular jurisdiction by authority, with a prohibition of return, for a limited time or for life; expatriate.
  • Hence To constrain to abandon country or home; drive to a foreign country, literally or figuratively; expel.
  • Slender; thin; fine; light.
  • noun Expulsion from one's country or home by an authoritative decree, for a definite period or in perpetuity; banishment; expatriation: as, the exile of Napoleon; exile to Siberia.
  • noun Residence in a foreign land or a remote place enforced by the government of which one has been a subject or citizen, or by stress of circumstances; separation from one's native or chosen home or country and friends; the condition of living in banishment.
  • noun Removal.
  • noun A banished person; a person expelled from his country or home by authority, or separated from it by necessity: as, Siberian exiles; a band of exiles.
  • noun Synonyms Proscription, expulsion, ostracism.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Forced separation from one's native country; expulsion from one's home by the civil authority; banishment; sometimes, voluntary separation from one's native country.
  • noun The person expelled from his country by authority; also, one who separates himself from his home.
  • transitive verb To banish or expel from one's own country or home; to drive away.
  • adjective obsolete Small; slender; thin; fine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of being banished from one's home or country.
  • noun Someone who is banished from one's home or country.
  • verb To send into exile.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb expel from a country
  • noun the act of expelling a person from their native land
  • noun a person who is expelled from home or country by authority
  • noun a person who is voluntarily absent from home or country

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English exil, from Old French, from Latin exilium, from exul, exsul, exiled person, wanderer.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English exil, from Old French essil exil, from Latin exsilium, exilium ("state of exile"), derived from exsul, exul ("exiled person").

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Examples

Comments

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  • Sounds like the letters X I L.

    October 29, 2009

  • exile (adjective) = scanty, poor and meager as well as slender and thin (OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary).

    March 21, 2016