refugee

The story

1. Latin · derived fromrefugium“a place of refuge, place to flee back to”
2. Old French · derived fromrefuge“hiding place”
3. French · derived fromréfugié
4. English todayrefugee

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. Noun 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.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1680s 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.
• from 1750s A person who is fleeing from justice, punishment deemed righteous, etc.; a runaway, a fugitive.