expulsio

Expulsio is a Latin noun meaning the act of driving out, expulsion, or banishment. It is formed from the verb expellere, “to drive out,” and appears in classical and later Latin texts to denote the ejection of a person from a place, status, or group. The term emphasizes the action of removal rather than the resulting condition.

In Roman usage, expulsio could refer to the removal of a citizen from a city, territory, or civil rights, sometimes as a political sanction or administrative measure. It is related to, but distinct from, exilium, which more directly denotes the state of exile. In many texts expulsio serves as a procedural descriptor for the act of ejecting someone from a community, office, or property.

Medieval and early modern Latin texts continue to employ expulsio in legal and ecclesiastical contexts, describing the removal of individuals from offices, communities, or possessions. As with other Latin legal vocabulary, expulsio appears in acts, decrees, and chronicles, often conveying formal or authoritative action.

Grammatical notes: expulsio is a feminine noun of the third declension. Singular forms include expulsio, expulsionis, expulsioni, expulsionem, expulsione; plural forms include expulsiones, expulsionum, expulsionibus, expulsiones, expulsionibus.

In modern scholarship, expulsio is typically translated as “expulsion” or “banishment,” and it helps frame discussions of historical processes of removal, exclusion, or disenfranchisement in Latin sources. It also provides a linguistic link to terms in modern languages that express deportation or exclusion.