exclave

noun

ex·​clave ˈek-ˌsklāv 

-ˌskläv

: a portion of a country separated from the main part and constituting an enclave in respect to the surrounding territory

Did you know?

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the key to "exclave" is found in "enclave." "Enclave" itself ultimately derives from the Latin word for "key," which is "clavis." It was adopted in the mid-19th century from Middle French enclaver ("to enclose"), which in turn derives (through Vulgar Latin) from in- and clavis. "Exclave" was formed about twenty years later by combining the prefix ex- and the "-clave" of "enclave." Other "clavis" descendants in English include "autoclave," "clavicle," "conclave," and "clavichord" ("an early keyboard instrument in use before the piano").

Examples of exclave in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Azerbaijan has denied these allegations, but the country is a major oil supplier to Israel, which might be enough to push Tehran to try to seize Nakhichevan, an Azerbaijani exclave on the Iranian border. — Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026

The Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad is surrounded by NATO members Poland and Lithuania. — Lorne Cook, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

The Polish military said a Russian military helicopter briefly violated Poland’s airspace Wednesday on the country’s border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. — ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026

The first is the new S11 chip, which features a secure exclave for microphone data processing on top of a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. — Victoria Song, The Verge, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

ex- + -clave (as in enclave)

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for exclave

• agave
• behave
• concave
• conclave
• enclave
• engrave
• enslave
• forgave
• landgrave
• margrave
• shortwave
• aftershave

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