Diaspora
noun /daɪˈasp(ə)rə/ — A community scattered far from its original homeland.
Definition
The dispersion of any people from their original homeland — originally referring to the Jewish exile, now applied broadly to any community living outside their country of origin while maintaining cultural identity.
Beyond the definition
Diaspora carries a particular kind of double belonging — belonging to the place you are from and the place you are now, never entirely at home in either. The diaspora community preserves culture both faithfully and in translation, keeping the original language while adapting it to new soil.
Origin & history
From Greek diaspora (dispersion), from dia- (through) + speirein (to sow, scatter). Originally used for the Jewish communities outside Israel; expanded in the 20th century to describe any dispersed ethnic community.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The Irish diaspora has maintained a distinct cultural identity across generations and continents.
She grew up in the Ghanaian diaspora in London — belonging to two countries and fully inhabiting neither.
The restaurant was the heart of the local diaspora — the place where language and food could still be entirely themselves.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Diaspora” when the meaning fits your context: The dispersion of any people from their original homeland — originally referring to the Jewish exile, now applied broadly to any community living outside their country of origin while maintaining cultural identity.
Synonyms
dispersion, exile community, scattered people
Antonyms
homeland, indigenous community
Related words
Word in the Wild
Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.
Her grandmother made a specific soup — a combination of ingredients, a method, a smell that filled the kitchen — and would not write down the recipe because recipes were for people who didn't know how to cook.
When the grandmother died, the soup could not be recovered. The ingredients were approximately right. The proportions were close. But something was missing — something transmitted through the hands, through the timing, through the way the grandmother had stood at a stove in a country she'd left fifty years before.
"The recipe was in her body," her granddaughter said. "And some of it came with her, and some of it stayed behind." Some things travel. Others remain, permanently, in the place they were made.
Questions about this word
What does "Diaspora" mean?
Diaspora is noun meaning: A community scattered far from its original homeland.. The dispersion of any people from their original homeland — originally referring to the Jewish exile, now applied broadly to any community living outside their country of origin while maintaining cultural identity.
Where does the word "Diaspora" come from?
From Greek diaspora (dispersion), from dia- (through) + speirein (to sow, scatter). Originally used for the Jewish communities outside Israel; expanded in the 20th century to describe any dispersed ethnic community.