exul

Exul is a Latin noun and adjective meaning “an exile” or “banished (person).” The term is attested in classical and late antique Latin and is closely related to exilium, the noun for exile. In Roman literature and law, exul denotes a person who has been banished by decree or who lives in exile, and it can also describe the state of exile in some contexts. The usage therefore marks the experiencer or subject of exile rather than the act of banishment itself, which is more often conveyed by exilium.

In modern scholarship, exul is primarily of interest as a lexical and historical point of reference in the study of Latin vocabulary related to exile and on the way such ideas appeared in antiquity. It helps explain how Latin differentiated the person who experiences exile from the abstract concept, a distinction that influenced later Romance vocabularies. The English language typically uses exile for both the person and the condition, while exul remains a rarity outside linguistic or historical discussions.

Related terms include exilium (the exile as a concept) and its descendants in Romance languages, such as exilio in Spanish and Italian esilio. In French, the descendant is exil. Overall, exul occupies a niche in linguistic and classical studies as a key historical word for the person subjected to exile.