verb / noun

repatriate

ree-PAY-tree-ayt/ˌriːˈpeɪtrieɪt/

Return to a country of origin.

Medical workers repatriate the traveler from the United States to Mexico.

An assisted medical return from abroad: the same Mexican traveler is transferred from an American hospital to an air ambulance, then brought off that aircraft in Mexico to meet his waiting mother.

Etymology

reLatinback

+patriLatinnative land

+ateLatinparticipial ending

“Back” and “native land” directly express returning to one's own country. The English verb makes that return something someone brings about: sending or bringing a person home.

In context

UNESCO15:46

agreed to repatriate a mummified head back to New Zealand in 2007

5 - Roundtable 3 Circulation of cultural property: the new role of museums

More examples

The museum agrees to repatriate the artifacts to their country of origin.
The company repatriates profits earned by its overseas branches.
Each repatriate receives help finding housing after returning home.

Forms

repatriate · repatriates · repatriated · repatriating

repatriation noun — The return to a country of origin.

Similar words

return: Means going or sending back anywhere, not necessarily a homeland.