Greek for 'a scattering' — from 'dia' (across) + 'speirein' (to sow). Originally biblical, now any scattered community.
The dispersion of a people beyond their traditional homeland; the community of people living outside their ancestral territory. Originally and specifically, the dispersion of the Jewish people beyond Israel.
From Greek 'διασπορά' (diaspora, 'a scattering, a dispersion'), from 'διασπείρειν' (diaspeirein, 'to scatter about, to spread'), from 'διά' (dia, 'across, through') and 'σπείρειν' (speirein, 'to sow, to scatter seed'). The word was used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd century BCE) to translate Hebrew concepts of exile and scattering, particularly in Deuteronomy 28:25. It entered English initially as a theological term. Key roots