AskDefine | Define banishment

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Dictionary Definition

banishment

Noun

1 the state of being banished or ostracized (excluded from society by general consent); "the association should get rid of its elderly members--not by euthanasia, of course, but by Coventry" [syn: ostracism, Coventry]
2 rejection by means of an act of banishing or proscribing someone [syn: proscription]

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bæn'ɪʃmənt/, SAMPA: /b

Extensive Definition

Exile can be a form of punishment. It means to be away from one's home (i.e. city, state or country) while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return.
It is common to distinguish between internal exile, i.e., forced resettlement within the country of residence, and external exile, deportation outside the country of residence.
Exile can also be a self-imposed departure from one's homeland. Self-exile is often practiced as form of protest or to avoid persecution.

Personal Exile

Exile was used particularly for political opponents of those in power. The use of exile for political purposes can sometimes be useful for the government because it prevents the exilee from organizing in their native land or from becoming a martyr. People feared exile and banishment so much because it effectively meant that they were going to die. In European history, at a time prior to Roman invasion, people lived completely co-dependently in farm towns where everyone had a function. Exile represented a severe punishment, particularly for those, like Ovid or Du Fu, exiled to strange or backward regions, cut off from all of the possibilities of life as well as their families and associates. Dante describes the pain of exile in The Divine Comedy:
«. . . Tu lascerai ogne cosa diletta
più caramente; e questo è quello strale
che l'arco de lo essilio pria saetta.
Tu proverai sì come sa di sale
lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle
lo scendere e 'l salir per l'altrui scale . . .»
". . . You will leave everything you love most:
this is the arrow that the bow of exile
shoots first. You will know how salty
another's bread tastes and how hard it
is to ascend and descend
another's stairs . . ."
Paradiso XVII: 55-60
Exile has been softened, to some extent, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as exiles have received welcome in other countries and have either created new communities within those countries or, less frequently, returned to their homelands following the demise of the regime that exiled them.

Government In Exile

During a foreign occupation or after a coup d'etat, a government in exile of a such afflicted country may be established abroad. One of the most well-known instances of this is the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a government in exile led by the Dalai Lama in India, claiming to be the legitimate ruler of the historical Tibet‎.

Nation In Exile

When large groups, or occasionally a whole people or nation is exiled, it can be said that this nation is in exile, or Diaspora. Nations that have been in exile for substantial periods include the Jews, who were deported by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 597 BC and again in the years following the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem in the year AD 70. After the partitions of Poland in the late 18th century, and following the uprisings (like Kosciuszko Uprising, November Uprising and January Uprising) against the partitioning powers (Russian Empire, Prussia and Austro-Hungary), many Poles have chosen - or been forced - into exile, forming large diasporas (known as Polonia), especially in France and the United States.The entire population of Crimean Tatars (200,000) that remained in their homeland Crimea was exiled on 18 May 1944 to Central Asia as a form of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment on false accusations. At Diego Garcia, between 1967 and 1973 the British Government forcibly removed some 2,000 Chagossian resident islanders to make way for a military base today jointly operated by the US and UK.

Tax Exile

A wealthy citizen who departs from a former abode for a lower tax jurisdiction (a "tax haven") in order to reduce his/her tax burden is termed a tax exile.

Notable People Who Have Been In Exile

Fictional Characters In Exile

See also

References

banishment in Czech: Exil
banishment in Danish: Eksil
banishment in German: Exil
banishment in Estonian: Eksiil
banishment in Modern Greek (1453-): Εξορία
banishment in Spanish: Exilio
banishment in Esperanto: Ekzilo
banishment in French: Exil
banishment in Galician: Exilio
banishment in Korean: 유배
banishment in Italian: Esilio
banishment in Dutch: Ballingschap
banishment in Japanese: 流罪
banishment in Norwegian: Eksil
banishment in Norwegian Nynorsk: Eksil
banishment in Occitan (post 1500): Exili
banishment in Polish: Banicja
banishment in Portuguese: Exílio
banishment in Romanian: Exil
banishment in Russian: Изгнание
banishment in Slovak: Exil
banishment in Swedish: Exil
banishment in Ukrainian: Вигнання
banishment in Chinese: 流亡

Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words

ban, blackball, blackballing, blacklist, boycott, boycottage, defrocking, degradation, demotion, depluming, deportation, deprivation, disbarment, disfellowship, displacement, displuming, exclusion, excommunication, exile, expatriation, expulsion, extradition, fugitation, ostracism, ostracization, outlawing, outlawry, proscription, relegation, rustication, stripping, transportation, unfrocking
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