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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Fugitive

Fū'gi-tive, a.

adjective

a. [Lat. fugitivus, fugere, to flee; Fr. fugitif, Pr. fugitivu, Sp. & Pg. fugitivo, It. fugitivo.]

Sense 1. Apt to flee away; given to flying away; inclined to escape; liable to disappear; uncertain; not to be relied upon.

Sense 2. Easily blown away or absorbed; volatile; evanescent. “Tender and fugitive parts . . . of vegetables.” Woodward. “A growing and fugitive idea.” Locke.

Sense 3. Flying or escaping from duty, service, danger, and the like;—said of persons. “The fugitive Parthians follow.” Shak.

Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself while her parents are in tears? Richardson.

Fugitive compositions, such as are short and occasional, and so published that they quickly escape notice, as in a newspaper.

Synonyms—Fleeting; unstable; wandering; eloping; uncertain.

Fū'gi-tive, n.

noun

n. 1. One who flees from his station or duty; a deserter; one who flees from danger.

  1. One who has fled or deserted, and taken refuge under another power, or one who has fled from punishment. Dryden.
  2. One hard to be caught or detained.

Or catch that airy fugitive called wit. Hort. Fugitive from justice (Law), one who, having committed a crime in one jurisdiction, flees or escapes into another to avoid punishment.