diaspora

UK/daɪˈæs.pə.ɹə/US/daɪˈæs.pɚ.ə/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,004 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: diasporas

A diaspora is a people scattered far from their homeland. The Irish diaspora.

It implies a continuing connection rather than simple emigration, which is the whole point of the word. Money sent home by a diaspora is larger than foreign aid for many countries.

Definitions of diaspora

1noundiasporaA people scattered far from their homeland.C1
“The diaspora sends more money home than the country earns from exports.”

diaspora is a people.

Where it comes from

Greek diaspora means a scattering, from dia plus speirein, to sow.

Ancient Greek
διασπορᾱ́ — dispersion
English, today
diaspora

Built from

διασπείρω · Ancient Greek — to scatter
σπείρω · Ancient Greek — to sow

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek διασπορᾱ́ (“dispersion”). Ancient Greek διασπορᾱ́ (“dispersion”), from διασπείρω (“to scatter”), from δια- + σπείρω (“to sow”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

diaspora in the wild

The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities that descended from people from Africa.
African diaspora
The phrase African diaspora gradually entered common usage at the turn of the 21st century.
African diaspora
The Armenian diaspora are the communities of Armenians outside the Armenian highlands.
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora is one of the oldest and largest diasporas in the world, with the oldest community being the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem.
Armenian diaspora
A Jewish diaspora population existed for many centuries before the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Jewish diaspora

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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