What is the definition of an expatriate?

expatriate /ɛkˈspeɪtrijət/ Brit /ɛkˈspætriət/ noun

plural expatriates

plural expatriates

Britannica Dictionary definition of EXPATRIATE

[count]

: a person who lives in a foreign country

  • American expatriates living in Paris

— expatriate

adjective, always used before a noun

  • expatriate writers

You're an expat if you live in a country other than the one in which you were born and raised. Some expats are sent by their companies to work in foreign countries.

If your grandparents retire and buy a house in Mexico near the beach, they're expats. The word is a shortened form of expatriate, and it generally refers to anyone who has chosen to live away from their native home country, either temporarily or permanently. Expatriate comes from the Latin roots ex-, "away from," and patria, "one's native country." It first meant "one who is banished," and later "one who chooses to live abroad."

Definitions of expat

  1. noun

    a person who is voluntarily absent from home or country

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An expatriate is someone who lives in another country by choice. If you leave your split-level ranch in Ohio and move to a writers' commune in Paris for good, you've become an expatriate.

Expatriate can also be a verb, so that American in Paris has expatriated. There was a scene of expatriates, or expats, living in Paris in the roaring '20s that included writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. The word used to mean to get kicked out of your native country — it's from the French word expatrier which means "banish." The prefix ex means "out of" and the Latin patria "one's native country," but the word took a turn and now refers to people who left without getting shoved out.

Definitions of expatriate

  1. noun

    a person who is voluntarily absent from home or country

    “American expatriates

    synonyms: exile, expat

  2. verb

    expel from a country

  3. verb

    move away from one's native country and adopt a new residence abroad

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An expatriate is someone who has chosen to live and work in a country other than the one in which he or she legally resides. Most often, an expatriate is a citizen of a Western nation who has chosen to live in a non-Western country, such as one in South America, Asia, or Africa. Expatriates are often known simply as expats, and they often form their own communities in their new host countries. In areas popular with expatriates, such as parts of Africa and South-East Asia, there are often services such as hotels and cafes that cater specifically to the needs of the local expatriate community. In addition to salary, companies give their expatriate employees benefits such as relocation assistance, housing allowance company car, school fees, medical insurance, etc. Relationships between companies [mainly multinationals corporations] an their expatriate employees are governed through a Model of Expatriate Contract of Employment.

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[ verb eks-pey-tree-eyt or, especially British, -pa-tree-; adjective, noun eks-pey-tree-it, -eyt or, especially British, -pa-tree- ]

/ verb ɛksˈpeɪ triˌeɪt or, especially British, -ˈpæ tri-; adjective, noun ɛksˈpeɪ tri ɪt, -ˌeɪt or, especially British, -ˈpæ tri- /

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

Definition of expatriate

verb [used with object], ex·pa·tri·at·ed, ex·pa·tri·at·ing.

to banish [a person] from his or her native country.

to withdraw [oneself] from residence in one's native country.

to withdraw [oneself] from allegiance to one's country.

verb [used without object], ex·pa·tri·at·ed, ex·pa·tri·at·ing.

to become an expatriate: He expatriated from his homeland.

adjective

noun

an expatriated person: Many American writers were living as expatriates in Paris.

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Origin of expatriate

1760–70;

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