homeland

/ˈhəʊmlænd/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhəʊmlænd/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈhōm-ˌland also -lənd/ (ame, mw)

homeland — noun

  • homelandsingular
  • homelandsplural

1. the country you consider your home because you grew up there and your family com

1.名詞B1
釋義

the country you consider your home because you grew up there and your family comes from there

例句

Vivek visits his homeland every summer to see his extended family.

possessive + homeland + travel verb

After years of working abroad, Élise finally returned to her homeland.

return to + somebody's homeland

同義詞
  • motherland

    more poetic and emotionally charged; often used for the country of one's ancestors even if one was born elsewhere

  • fatherland

    similar to motherland but more common in European patriotic contexts; less used in American English

  • native land

    neutral and factual, lacks the emotional depth of homeland

  • home country

    practical everyday term used when travelling or living abroad

反義詞

文法句型

the/somebody's + homeland

用法筆記

Common in discussions of migration, exile, and national pride. The word carries a warmer, more personal tone than simply 'country' and usually implies a sense of belonging, not just a birthplace fact.

常見錯誤

❌My homeland is Taipei.
✅My hometown is Taipei.
💡'Homeland' refers to an entire country, not a city or town.

2. under the South African apartheid system (1948–1994), one of the segregated area

2.名詞C1
釋義

under the South African apartheid system (1948–1994), one of the segregated areas where black people were forced to live, each supposedly having limited self-government

例句

Under apartheid, millions of black South Africans were forced to live in designated homelands.

forced to live in + homelands (passive construction)

The Transkei homeland received only the appearance of self‑rule from the apartheid government in 1976.

appearance of self‑rule — not real independence

同義詞
  • Bantustan

    the politically charged alternative term for these areas; often preferred in academic writing for its critical stance

  • reserve

    earlier colonial term for land set aside for black populations in southern Africa

文法句型

the + homelands

homeland + noun (system / policy)

用法筆記

This sense is strictly historical and refers only to the apartheid-era Bantustan policy in South Africa (1948–1994). Do not use it generically for indigenous territories or ethnic regions in other countries. These homelands were created by the white minority government along ethnic lines to deny black South Africans citizenship and political rights.

常見錯誤

❌The Cherokee homeland was in Oklahoma.
✅The Cherokee ancestral lands were in Oklahoma.
💡The South African apartheid homelands are a specific historical policy, not a general term for indigenous territories.