Category:Fugitive

Fu"gi*tive, a. Etym: [OE. fugitif, F. fugitif, fr. L. fugitivus, fr. fugere to flee. See Bow to bend, and cf. Feverfew.]

1. Fleeing from pursuit, danger, restraint, etc., escaping, from service, duty etc.; as, a fugitive solder; a fugitive slave; a fugitive debtor. The fugitive Parthians follow. Shak. Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself while her parents are in tear. Richardson. A libellous pamphlet of a fugitive physician. Sir H. Wotton.

2. Not fixed; not durable; liable to disappear or fall away; volatile; uncertain; evanescent; liable to fade; -- applied to material and immaterial things; as, fugitive colors; a fugitive idea. The me more tender and fugitive parts, the leaves. . . of vegatables. Woodward. Fugitive compositions, Such as are short and occasional, and so published that they quickly escape notice.

Syn. -- Fleeting; unstable; wandering; uncertain; volatile; fugacious; fleeing; evanescent.

fugitive Fu"gi*tive, n.

1. One who flees from pursuit, danger, restraint, service, duty, etc.; a deserter; as, a fugitive from justice.

2. Something hard to be caught or detained. Or Catch that airy fugitive called wit. Harte. Fugitive from justice (Law), one who, having committed a crime in one jurisdiction, flees or escapes into another to avoid punishment.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Fugitive - Genesis 4:12, Genesis 4:14, a rover or wanderer (Heb. n'a ); Judges 12:4, a refugee, one who has escaped (Heb. palit ); 2 Kings 25:11, a deserter, one who has fallen away to the enemy (Heb. nophel ); Ezekiel 17:21, one who has broken away in flight (Heb. mibrah ); Isaiah 15:5; Isaiah 43:14, a breaker away, a fugitive (Heb. beriah), one who flees away.