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Origin and history of exile

exile(v.)

c. 1300, from Old French essillier "exile, banish, expel, drive off" (12c.), from Late Latin exilare/exsilare, from Latin exilium/exsilium "banishment, exile; place of exile," from exul "banished person," from ex "away" (see ex-); according to Watkins the second element is from PIE root *al- (2) "to wander" (source also of Greek alaomai "to wander, stray, or roam about"). De Vaan expands on this:

Several etymologies are possible. It might be a derivative of a verb *ex-sulere 'to take out' to the root *selh- 'to take', cf. consul and consulere; hence exsul 'the one who is taken out'. It might belong to amb-ulare < *-al- 'to walk', hence 'who walks out'. It might even belong to *helh-, the root of [Greek elauno] 'to drive': ex-ul 'who is driven out' [de Vaan, "Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages"]

In ancient times folk etymology derived the second element from Latin solum "soil." Related: Exiled; exiling.

exile(n.)

c. 1300, "forced removal from one's country," from Old French exil, essil (12c.), from Latin exilium "banishment; place of exile" (see exile (v.)). From c. 1300 as "a banished person," from Latin exsul, exul. The Latin noun was glossed in Old English by utlanda.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to exile

pre-exilic(adj.)

"existing or done before exile," 1884, chiefly in reference to Biblical writings supposed to date before the Jewish exile (586-537 B.C.E.), from pre- "before" + exile (n.) + -ic.

ex-

word-forming element, in English meaning usually "out of, from," but also "upwards, completely, deprive of, without," and "former;" from Latin ex "out of, out from the interior of a thing" (in opposition to in), "from within; from which time, since; according to; in regard to." This is reconstructed to be from PIE *eghs "out" (source also of Gaulish ex-, Old Irish ess-, Old Church Slavonic izu, Russian iz). In some cases also from Greek cognate ex, ek.

Often reduced to e- before -b-, -d-, -g-, consonantal -i-, -l-, -m-, -n-, -v- (as in elude, emerge, evaporate, etc.).

The sense in Latin naturally tended toward "thoroughly, utterly," and in some English ex- words with no clear connection to the idea of "out of," the element might be purely intensive. Among them are exhort, exhilarate, evident, excruciate, exclaim, exuberant, exaggerate, expiate, expect.

For use of Latin ex- as "(rise) up out of," as preserved in English emerge, emend, the notion is "out from the interior of a thing," in opposition to in-. Hence also in Latin, "in an upward direction," as in effervesce, exult, extol.

PIE *eghs had comparative form *eks-tero and superlative *eks-t(e)r-emo-.

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    expatriate
    "to banish, send out of one's native country," 1768, modeled on French expatrier "banish" (14c.), from ex- "out of" (see ex-) + patrie "native land," from Latin patria "one's native country," from pater (genitive patris) "father" (see father (n.); also compare patriot). Related:
    deport
    late 15c., "to behave," from Old French deporter "behave, deport (oneself)" (12c.), which also had a wide range of secondary meanings, such as "be patient; take one's (sexual) pleasure with; amuse, entertain; remain, delay, tarry; cheer, console, treat kindly; put aside, cast off
    deportation
    "a carrying away from one country to another or to a distant place," 1590s, from French déportation, from Latin deporationem (nominative deportatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of deportare "carry off, transport, banish, exile," from de "off, away" (see de-) + porta
    fugitive
    past-participle adjective from stem of fugere "to flee, fly, take flight, run away; become a fugitive, leave the country, go into exile...the notice of, be unknown to," from PIE root *bheug- "to flee" (source also of Greek pheugein "to flee, escape, go into exile..., be on the run," phyza "(wild) flight, panic," phyge "flight, exile;" Lithuanian būgstu, būgti "be frightened," bauginti...
    put-out
    The verbal phrase is from mid-14c. as "drive out, banish, exile;" from 1520s as "extinguish" (a fire or burning object)....
    outlander
    Old English utlanda meant "an exile."...
    diaspora
    A Hebrew word for it is galuth "exile." The earlier word for it in English was Latinate dispersion (late 14c.)....
    foreigner
    early 15c., foreyner; see foreign + -er (1). In ordinary use chiefly applied to those who speak a foreign language as their native tongue; thus in England the term is not commonly understood to include Americans. [OED] In American English from 1620s through mid-19c., however, i
    proscription
    late 14c., proscripcioun, "decree of condemnation, outlawry, sentence of exile, the dooming of a citizen to death as a public enemy and confiscation of his goods," from Latin proscriptionem (nominative proscriptio) "a public notice (of sale); proscription, outlawry, confiscation,
    alien
    c. 1300, "strange, foreign," from Old French alien "strange, foreign;" as a noun, "an alien, stranger, foreigner," from Latin alienus "of or belonging to another, not one's own, foreign, strange," also, as a noun, "a stranger, foreigner," adjective from alius (adv.) "another, oth

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