also: りゅうじん
exile; banished person
Historical term for a person sentenced to exile, especially in pre-modern Japan. Often used in historical or literary contexts.
He committed a crime and became an exile, sent to a distant island.
Only with reading りゅうじん
Rare reading りゅうじん for a person who wanders without a fixed home. Not commonly used in modern Japanese.
Ancient documents record accounts of those who wandered as vagrants across various regions.
Standard kanji form for the historical exile sense.
Rare reading used for the vagrant/wanderer sense.
Composed of 流 (flow, exile) and 人 (person). The reading るにん is a historical Japanese reading, while りゅうじん is a Sino-Japanese reading. The exact derivation is uncertain, but the term has been used since the Heian period to refer to exiled individuals.