Repatriate
entry by Millie McDevitt, International Executive Life Coach and Founder of Calmer Waters Coaching UK
Return to country of origin.
Comparable terms
Repat, repatriation.
Why this matters
To repatriate is a term which is being more commonly used in expat circles as more people return to their passport/ home/ country of origin but which is perhaps not as well known as the term ‘expat’.
Cross-references
Repatriation (Transitions & Mobility), Re-entry Shock (Cultural Adaptation), W-Curve (Cultural Adaptation), Reintegration (Transitions & Mobility), Hidden Immigrant (Identity & Belonging), Expatriate Family (Family Dynamics). Together these entries situate the action of repatriating within the broader return process: repatriation names the formal and organizational return, re‑entry shock and the W‑curve describe the emotional adjustment dip on coming home, reintegration covers the longer‑term rebuilding of life in the passport country, hidden immigrant captures the mismatch between how repatriates look and how they feel culturally, and expatriate family highlights how the entire family system, not only the assignee, undergoes repatriate transition.
Sources
Miriam Webster online dictionary. Accessed 30/6/2026: repatriate (verb)
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