fugitive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fugitif,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French fugitif,^{[5][6][3][7][8]} and also directly borrowed from Latin fugitīvus (“fleeing; a runaway”),^[9][4][10] from fugitus, the past participle of fugiō (“to flee”).^{[5][7][11][9]} In Latin the adjective was often used as a noun for a runaway, a fugitive slave or a deserter.^[6][9] The Latin verb is from Proto-Indo-European *bheug- (“to flee”),^[6][9][8] the source of Ancient Greek φεύγω (pheúgō, “to flee”)^{[6][9][8][12]} and of Lithuanian bauginti (“to frighten”) and baugus (“timid”).^[6][9][4] Klein and Merriam-Webster connect this root with one meaning "to bend", the source of bow and Old English būgan (“to bend, bow; to flee”).^[8][4][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fleeing, having taken flight: about 1380, in Chaucer's House of Fame,^[9][2] where the OED reads it as "banished, exiled" (about 1384).^[5] The noun, a runaway, is first recorded before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[9][5][2]

Semantic evolution

From people who flee from justice, an enemy or a master,^[5][11] the adjective was extended to things that move from place to place (1481, in Caxton)^[5] and, in Middle English, to what is unstable or elusive.^[2] Its main figurative sense, "fleeting, of short duration", is recorded from about 1500 in Etymonline,^[6] 1518 in the OED;^[5] from 1678 it was used of colours and impressions that fade quickly,^[5][11] and since 1766 of short writings on subjects of passing interest.^[5][6] The noun likewise meant an exile or refugee from Shakespeare's time on, and for a time a deserter.^[5][11] Johnson (1755) listed "not tenable", "unsteady", "volatile" and "flying; running from danger".^[14] Weekley compares the figurative senses with those of fleeting.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – adjective, fleeing, in Chaucer's House of Fame.^[9][2]
• before 1382 – noun, a runaway, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[9][5]
• 1467 – having taken flight, especially from justice or a master.^[5]
• 1481 – moving from place to place, wandering.^[5]
• c. 1500 – fleeting, of short duration.^[6]
• 1518 – of immaterial things, fleeting.^[5]
• 1553 – noun, a deserter (obsolete by 1659).^[5]
• before 1616 – noun, an exile or refugee, in Shakespeare.^[5]
• 1678 – of colours and impressions, quickly fading.^[5]
• 1766 – of writings, of passing interest, occasional.^[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who flees or tries to escape, especially from the law, an enemy or danger: a fugitive from justice.^[15][4][5]
2. A person who has fled his or her country; an exile or refugee.^[4][5]
3. Something elusive or fleeting.^[15]

Adjective

1. Running away or having fled, as from the law or captivity.^[15][4][5]
2. Lasting only a short time; fleeting, transient: a fugitive smile.^[15][4][5]
3. Moving from place to place; wandering.^[15][4][5]
4. Of colours or dyes, fading quickly.^[5][11]
5. Of writings, of passing interest; ephemeral, occasional.^[5][11]

Word family

• fugitively
• fugitiveness
• nonfugitive

Related words

• fugue
• refuge
• refugee
• subterfuge
• centrifugal
• fugacious
• febrifuge
• feverfew
• bow

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins