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expatriate

ex·pa·tri·ate/ɛksˈpætɹi.ɪt/adjective, noun, verb

expatriate is spelled E-X-P-A-T-R-I-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables (ex·pa·tri·ate). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, expatriate means “Living outside of one's own country” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in expatriate?

Letters10: E-X-P-A-T-R-I-A-T-E
Syllables4: ex·pa·tri·ate
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is expatriate?

Expatriate appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce expatriate?

  • /ɛksˈpætɹi.ɪt/
  • /ɛksˈpeɪ.tɹi.ɪt/

As a verb (“To banish; to drive or force (a person) from his own…”): /ɛksˈpætɹɪ.eɪt/, /ɛksˈpeɪ.tɹi.eɪt/.

Expatriate has 4 syllables, split ex·pa·tri·ate in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-expatriate1.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-expatriate2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of expatriate

  • expatriates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • expatriating participle, present
  • expatriated participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does expatriate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Living outside of one's own country.

    an expatriate rebel force

noun

  1. 1

    One who lives outside one's own country, especially temporarily for a profession or education.

  2. 2

    One who has been banished from one's own country.

verb

  1. 1

    To banish; to drive or force (a person) from his own country; to make an exile of.

  2. 2

    To withdraw from one’s native country.

  3. 3

    To renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born and become a citizen of another country.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Expatriate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanim Ausland lebend (living outside of one's own country), Auswanderer (person living outside own country), Verbannter, Exilant, Exulant, Exilierter (person banished from their own country)
Portugueseexpatriado (living outside of one's own country), expatriar (banish), migrar (withdraw from one’s country)
Spanishexpatriado (living outside of one's own country), expatriar (banish), expatriarse (withdraw from one’s country)
Frenchexpatrié, expatriée (person living outside own country)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does expatriate come from?

The verb is first attested in 1787, the adjective and noun in 1812; borrowed from Medieval Latin expatriātus, perfect passive participle of expatriō (“to banish”) (see -ate (etymology 1,2 and 3)), from Latin ex- (“out of”) + patria (“native land”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); possibly after French expatrier and expatrié.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after expatriate