Rustication is a term used at
Oxford,
Cambridge and
Durham Universities to mean being sent down or
expelled temporarily, or, in more recent times, to leave temporarily for welfare and/or health reasons. The term derives from the Latin word
rus, countryside, to indicate that a student has been sent back to his or her family in the country, or from medieval Latin
rustici, meaning "heathens or barbarians" (
missus in rusticos, "sent among ..."). Depending on the conditions given, a student who has been rusticated may not be allowed to enter any of the university buildings, or even travel to within a certain distance of them.