expatriation
noun
Expatriation — the deliberate choice to leave one's native country behind
Definition
Migration from a place (especially migration from your native country in order to settle in another)
In depth
Expatriation, like emigration, names migration from one's native country, but the word carries a slightly different emphasis, often suggesting a more deliberate or chosen departure, sometimes for reasons of lifestyle, opportunity, or disillusionment rather than necessity. It also names the formal legal renunciation of citizenship, a more specific and consequential act.
Origin
The word descends from Latin ex- (out of) and patria (fatherland), the same root behind 'repatriation.' Its long literary association with twentieth-century writers and artists who deliberately left their home countries, often for cultural or creative reasons, has lent the word a certain romantic, even bohemian connotation distinct from the more neutral or necessity-driven 'emigration.'
Usage examples
"His expatriation to a quieter country had less to do with politics than with a simple desire for a different pace of life."
"Legal expatriation requires a formal renunciation of citizenship, a process far more involved than simply relocating abroad."
"The artists' colony, made up largely of voluntary expatriation, developed its own distinct culture entirely apart from either home or host country."
How to use it
Expatriation often implies a degree of choice or even privilege absent from words like 'emigration' or 'exile,' particularly in casual usage describing those who relocate by preference rather than necessity. Its formal legal sense, renouncing citizenship, is more precise and consequential, requiring careful distinction in legal writing.
Related concepts
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