Etymograph

English

refugee

Refugee comes from French réfugier ‘to take refuge, to seek refuge’, from Old French refuge ‘hiding place’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fugjō‘to flee’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugiō‘to flee, fly, take flight, escape, depart, run, run away, recede’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefugiō‘flee back, escape’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefugium‘a place of refuge, place to flee back to’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400refuge‘hiding place’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentréfugier‘to take refuge, to seek refuge’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentréfugiépast participle of réfugier
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1964refugee

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fugjō‘to flee’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfugiō‘to flee, fly, take flight, escape, depart, run, run away, recede’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefugiō‘flee back, escape’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefugium‘a place of refuge, place to flee back to’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400refuge‘hiding place’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentréfugier‘to take refuge, to seek refuge’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentréfugiépast participle of réfugier
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1964refugee

Earliest quotation: 1964, John F. Kennedy, A Nation of Immigrants: “In 1962 a special law had to be passed…”

Equivalent to refuge + -ee

Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg-

…

Latin refugiō ‘flee back, escape’

Latin refugium

Old French refuge ‘a refuge’

Middle English refuge

English refuge

The story

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).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg-

function, fungi, defunct, perfunctory, 17 more

through Latin fugiō ‘to flee, fly, take flight, escape, depart,…’

fugitive, fugue, 9 more

Today it means

noun 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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- / refugee

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