Returnee

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˌtɜːˈniː/

Definitions

1. An individual who goes back to a place where they formerly lived or stayed
2. Someone who has returned to their original home or location after being away
3. A person who resumes living in or visiting a place they left earlier

Etymology: "Returnee" is a plain English formation: the verb "return" with the suffix "-ee," which marks the person on the receiving end of an action. The "-ee" ending is the interesting part, since it does not come from English on its own terms. It passed into English through Middle English from Old French "-ée," which descends from Latin "-ātus," a suffix that forms past participles and nouns. The same ending turns up in words like "employee," "trustee," and "payee," where it likewise picks out the one who is acted upon. The suffix did not stay a simple past-participle marker in English. Its productive use grew through legal and commercial Anglo-French vocabulary, and English speakers eventually attached it to ordinary verbs at will, producing a whole family of person-nouns. "Returnee" belongs to that later, freely made group, so it is a transparent coinage rather than a word with an ancient history of its own.

Synonyms: returner, repatriate