流徙 (liú xǐ) is a literary and formal verb meaning 'to wander and drift' or 'to become displaced', often implying involuntary movement due to hardship—such as war, famine, natural disasters, or persecution. The first character 流 (liú) means 'to flow' or 'to drift', evoking continuous, uncontrolled motion; the second character 徙 (xǐ) means 'to move house' or 'to relocate', emphasizing physical uprooting. Together, they convey a sense of forced, rootless migration without stability or return.

This term appears frequently in historical, literary, and journalistic contexts—not in everyday speech—and carries solemn, empathetic, or tragic connotations. It describes people who lose their homes and livelihoods, not voluntary travelers or migrants seeking opportunity. While it can refer to human populations, it is occasionally used metaphorically for animals or even abstract entities (e.g., ideas) that disperse widely—but its core domain remains human displacement across places and time.