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diaspora

 - 3 dictionary results

Di⋅as⋅po⋅ra

  [dahy-as-per-uh]
Use diaspora in a Sentence
–noun
1. the scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity.
2. (often lowercase) the body of Jews living in countries outside Palestine or modern Israel.
3. such countries collectively: the return of the Jews from the Diaspora.
4. (lowercase) any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion.
5. (lowercase) any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland.
6. (lowercase) any religious group living as a minority among people of the prevailing religion.
Origin:
1875–80; < Gk diasporá a dispersion. See dia-, spore
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Di·as·po·ra   (dī-ās'pər-ə)   
n.  

  1. The dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century B.C., when they were exiled to Babylonia, until the present time.

  2. often diaspora The body of Jews or Jewish communities outside Palestine or modern Israel.

  3. diaspora

    1. A dispersion of a people from their original homeland.

    2. The community formed by such a people: "the glutinous dish known throughout the [West African] diaspora as ... fufu" (Jonell Nash).

  4. diaspora A dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture: "the diaspora of English into several mutually incomprehensible languages" (Randolph Quirk).


[Greek diasporā, dispersion, from diaspeirein, to spread about : dia-, apart; see dia- + speirein, to sow, scatter; see sper- in Indo-European roots.]
diasporic, diasporal adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

diaspora 
coined 1876 from Gk. diaspora, from diaspeirein "to scatter about, disperse," from dia- "about, across" + speirein "to scatter" (see sprout). Originally in Deut. xxviii.25.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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