Rĕf'ū-gēe', n.

n. [Fr. réfugié, from se réfugier, to take refuge; Sp. refugiado, It. rifuggito.]

1. One who flies to a shelter or place of safety.
2. Especially, one who, in times of persecution or political commotion, flees to a foreign power or country for safety; as, the French refugees, who left France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and settled in Flanders and America; the refugees from Hispaniola, in 1792; and the American refugees, who left their country at the revolution.