fugitive

Everyday

1. A person who is running away or hiding, especially from the police or from danger. tree →
2. (adjective) Running away or escaping: «a fugitive slave». tree →
3. (literary, adjective) Lasting only a short time, fleeting: «a fugitive smile». tree →

In the lessons

In stories, history and the news. In The Wind in the Willows Toad becomes a fugitive after escaping from prison, disguised as a washerwoman. In history lessons on slavery, fugitives escaped to freedom along the Underground Railroad. In the Bible, Cain is told he will be a fugitive and a wanderer.

Examples

• The fugitive hid in the woods from the police. tree →
• Toad was now a fugitive, running from the law. tree →
• Fugitives from the war crossed the border. tree →
• Harriet Tubman helped fugitive slaves reach freedom. tree →
• The police caught the fugitive at the station. tree →
• A fugitive smile crossed her face. tree →
• In vain do the fugitives attempt to escape. tree →

Note

Not the same as a refugee: a refugee flees danger to find safety and is not a criminal; «fugitive» often means running from the law. Comes from Latin «fugere», to flee.

In Jewish tradition

Here it is a person who flees or wanders, such as Cain after he killed Abel, or refugees running from war. Isaiah also uses it for the Chaldeans who will flee when Babylon falls.

Interpretation. Cain's fate as a fugitive and wanderer is read by tradition as the result of the terrible crime of murder. Isaiah's words are read as God's judgment on a proud empire that makes its people fugitives.

Examples

• The inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitive with his bread. (Prophets ISA.21.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• 'Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive. (Prophets ISA.16.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.' (Torah GEN.4.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thus saith the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their shouting. (Prophets ISA.43.14, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Not the same as a refugee: a refugee flees danger to find safety and is not a criminal; «fugitive» often means running from the law. Comes from Latin «fugere», to flee.