Definition of Exile

Exhort

EXILE noun

	One who serves his country by residing abroad, yet is not an ambassador. An English sea-captain being asked if he had read 'The Exile of Erin,' replied: 'No, sir, but I should like to anchor on it.' Years afterwards, when he had been hanged as a pirate after a career of unparalleled atrocities, the following memorandum was found in the ship's log that he had kept at the time of his reply: Aug. 3d, 1842. Made a joke on the ex-Isle of Erin. Coldly received. War with the whole world!

		definition from: *The Devil's Dictionary* by Ambrose Bierce, 1911

Existence

Regular definition:

EXILE:
?eksa?l n. & v. --n. 1 expulsion, or the state of being expelled, from one's native land or (internal exile) native town etc. 2 long absence abroad, esp. enforced. 3 a person expelled or long absent from his or her native country. 4 (the Exile) the captivity of the Jews in Babylon in the 6th c. BC. --v.tr. (foll. by from) officially expel (a person) from his or her native country or town etc. øøexilic adj. (esp. in sense 4 of n.). [ME f. OF exil, exiler f. L exilium banishment]

Last updated: 9/3/2011 12:48:30