Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who flees, especially to another country, seeking refuge from war, political oppression, religious persecution, or a natural disaster.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who flees to a refuge or shelter or place of safety.
  • noun One who in times of persecution or political commotion flees to a foreign country for safety.
  • noun One of a band of marauders during the American Revolution: so called because they placed themselves under the refuge or protection of the British crown: same as cow-boy, 3.
  • noun A unionist in the southern United States who, during the civil war, fled to the Northern States.
  • To become a refugee; take refuge in another country; specifically, during the civil war in the United States, to take refuge in the Northern States: said of unionists in the Southern States.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who flees to a shelter, or place of safety.
  • noun Especially, one who, in times of persecution or political commotion, flees to a foreign power or country for safety.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person seeking refuge in a foreign country out of fear of political persecution or the prospect of such persecution in his home country, i.e., a person seeking a political asylum.
  • noun A person seeking refuge in a foreign country due to poverty and no prospect of overcoming said poverty in his home country, i.e., a person seeking an economic asylum.
  • noun A person seeking refuge due to a natural disaster.
  • noun A person formally granted a political or economic asylum by a country other than his home country.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an exile who flees for safety

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French réfugié, from past participle of réfugier, to take refuge, from Old French, from refuge, refuge; see refuge.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French réfugié, past participle of réfugier ("to take refuge"), describing early French protestants seeking refuge.

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Examples

  • Not because "refugee" connotes someone from outside the country who seeks refuge from a political situation which it does, but because the term refugee makes it sound as though helping these people were optional and contingent upon our charitable feelings, rather than an obligation to our fellow citizens.

    Refugees. Evacuees. Okies. bradamant 2005

  • The nation's foremost news organizations, including the Associated Press, the "New York Times" and this broadcast uses the term refugee when and where appropriate.

    CNN Transcript Sep 7, 2005 2005

  • The president, Jackson and others apparently think that news organizations created the term refugee just to describe victims of Hurricane Katrina.

    CNN Transcript Sep 7, 2005 2005

  • Even a cursory review of reporting of such disaster of Hurricane Andrew, the 1993 Midwestern floods and wildfires through the West have all prompted the use of the term refugee by news organizations.

    CNN Transcript Sep 7, 2005 2005

  • You've heard on this broadcast, by the way, several people, including Reverend Jesse Jackson and others admonish us not to use the term refugee when describing the New Orleans citizens who have had to flee their homes.

    CNN Transcript Sep 7, 2005 2005

  • Refugee mentality: Comrade Magapatona felt that the term refugee mentality was not clearly defined.

    REPORT, MAIN DECISIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SECOND NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS - ZAMBIA. 1985

  • The law laid down a new, broader definition of the term refugee, established mechanisms for arriving at a level of refugee admissions through consultation with

    State of the Union Address (1790-2001) United States. Presidents.

  • The law laid down a new, broader definition of the term refugee, established mechanisms for arriving at a level of refugee admissions through consultation with Congress, and established the Office of the United States Coordinator for Refugees.

    State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter

  • Oh yeah, and the refugee is a young woman -- young pregnant woman.

    Rabid Rewind: Children of Men 2010

  • Oh yeah, and the refugee is a young woman -- young pregnant woman.

    Archive 2010-06-01 2010

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