Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

vagrant

 - 4 dictionary results
The Vagrants: A Novel
By Yiyun Li Qualified orders over $25 ship free
Amazon.com/books

va⋅grant

  [vey-gruhnt]
Use vagrant in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment; vagabond; tramp.
2. Law. an idle person without visible means of support, as a tramp or beggar.
3. a person who wanders from place to place; wanderer; rover.
4. wandering idly without a permanent home or employment; living in vagabondage: vagrant beggars.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a vagrant: the vagrant life.
–adjective
6. wandering or roaming from place to place; nomadic.
7. (of plants) straggling in growth.
8. not fixed or settled, esp. in course; moving hither and thither: a vagrant leaf blown by the wind.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME vagaraunt, appar. prp. of AF *vagrer, perh. < ME *vagren, b. vagen (< L vagārī to wander) and *walcren (> OF wa(u)crer), equiv. to walc- (see walk ) + -r- freq. suffix + -en inf. suffix

Related forms:
va⋅grant⋅ly, adverb
va⋅grant⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. Vagrant, vagabond describe an idle, disreputable person who lacks a fixed abode. Vagrant suggests a tramp, a person with no settled abode or livelihood, an idle and disorderly person: picked up by police as a vagrant. Vagabond especially emphasizes the idea of worthless living, often by trickery, thieving, or other disreputable means: Actors were once classed with rogues and vagabonds.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To vagrant
The Vagrants: A Novel
By Yiyun Li Qualified orders over $25 ship free
Amazon.com/books
va·grant   (vā'grənt)   
n.  

  1. One who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood.

  2. A wanderer; a rover.

  3. One who lives on the streets and constitutes a public nuisance.

adj.  

  1. Wandering from place to place and lacking any means of support.

  2. Wayward; unrestrained: a vagrant impulse.

  3. Moving in a random fashion; not fixed in place: "Thanks to a vagrant current of the Gulf Stream, a stretch of the Kola coast is free of ice year round" (Jack Beatty).


[Middle English vagraunt, probably alteration of Old French wacrant, present participle of wacrer, to wander, of Germanic origin.]
va'grant·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: va·grant
Pronunciation: 'vA-gr&nt
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French wagerant vageraunt, from present participle of vagrer walcrer to wander about, drift, probably from Old Norse valka to roll, wallow
: one who has no established residence and wanders about without lawful or identifiable means of support <vagrants may not be punished for being vagrants; only persons who commit culpable acts are liable for criminal sanctions —State v. Richard, 836 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 622 (1992)>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: va·grant
Pronunciation: 'vA-gr&nt
Function: adjective
: having no fixed course : moving from place to place vagrant infection>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see vagrant on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way