refugee
Plural: refugees
Noun
- an exile who flees for safety
- A person seeking refuge (as for shelter or protection), especially in a foreign country, out of fear or prospect of political, religious persecution, war, natural disaster, etc.
- A person who is fleeing from justice, punishment deemed righteous, etc.; a runaway, a fugitive.
Verb
- To convey (slaves) away from the advance of the federal forces.
Origin / Etymology
From French réfugié, past participle of réfugier (“to take refuge, to seek refuge”), from Old French refuge (“hiding place”) from Latin refugium (“a place of refuge, place to flee back to”), originally describing French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Sense 1 was "one seeking asylum" until 1914, when it evolved to mean more generally "one fleeing home" (first applied in this sense to civilians in Flanders heading west to escape fighting in World War I). By surface analysis, refuge + -ee. Displaced native Old English flīema.
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 11
refugee is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordrefugee is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
refugee is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 13
refugee is a valid Words With Friends word