Di·as·po·ra
(dī-ăs′pər-ə)n.1. The dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century bc, 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. diasporaa. A dispersion of a people from their original homeland.
b. 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.]
di·as′po·ric, di·as′po·ral adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Diaspora
(daɪˈæspərə) n1. (Historical Terms)
a. the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian and Roman conquests of Palestine
b. the Jewish communities outside Israel
c. the Jews living outside Israel
d. the extent of Jewish settlement outside Israel
2. (Peoples)
a. the dispersion of the Jews after the Babylonian and Roman conquests of Palestine
b. the Jewish communities outside Israel
c. the Jews living outside Israel
d. the extent of Jewish settlement outside Israel
3. (Bible) (in the New Testament) the body of Christians living outside Palestine
4. (Anthropology & Ethnology) (often not capital) a dispersion or spreading, as of people originally belonging to one nation or having a common culture
5. (Sociology) (often not capital) a dispersion or spreading, as of people originally belonging to one nation or having a common culture
6. (Peoples) Caribbean the descendants of Sub-Saharan African peoples living anywhere in the Western hemisphere
[C19: from Greek: a scattering, from diaspeirein to disperse, from dia- + speirein to scatter, sow; see spore]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Di•as•po•ra
(daɪˈæs pər ə)
n. 1. the scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity.
2. (often l.c.) the body of Jews living in countries outside Palestine or modern Israel.
3. such countries collectively.
4. (l.c.) any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion.
5. (l.c.) any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland.
[1875–80; < Greek
diasporá a dispersion, n. derivative of
diaspeîrein to scatter. See
dia-,
spore]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Diaspora
the scattering of the Jews after the period of Babylonian exile.
See also: Judaism-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
diaspora
1. A Greek word meaning scattering, used to mean the dispersion of a people to other parts of the world, or the worldwide communities of a people, especially of the Jews.
2. The dispersion and exile of Jews, first by the destruction of the kingdom of Israel and of the kingdom of Judah and later by improved communications, commercial opportunities and especially the spread of the Roman Empire. Jews were scattered throughout Europe, Asia, and later North America. This dispersion was sometimes forced, such as in the exile to Babylon in 586 BC and at the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in AD 70.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited