a person's or a people's native land 家乡,祖国 he left his homeland to settle in London. 他离开了祖国,定居在伦敦。 ■an autonomous or semi-autonomous state occupied by a particular people 自治(或半自治)国家 their political aim is a separate Tamil homeland. 他们的政治目标是建立一个独立的泰米尔自治国。 ■(historical)any of ten partially self-governing areas in South Africa designated for particular indigenous African peoples under the former policy of separate development (史)(在前隔离发展政策下指定的)南非本土非洲人十个半自治区之一