abscond

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Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

  • Either from Middle French abscondre or directly from Latin abscondere, present active infinitive of abscondō (hide); formed from abs, ab (away) + condō (put together, store), from con (together) +  (put)[1].
  • Cognate with sconce (a type of light fixture).

Pronunciation [edit]

Verb [edit]

abscond (third-person singular simple present absconds, present participle absconding, simple past and past participle absconded)

  1. (Should we delete(+) this redundant sense?) (intransitive) To flee; to withdraw from. [First attested in the mid 16th century.][2]
    The rabbit absconds to avoid detection from predators
  2. (intransitive, reflexive) To depart secretly; to hide from; to steal away, particularly to avoid arrest or prosecution. [First attested in the mid 16th century.][2]
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To hide [something], to conceal [something]; to take away [something]. [First attested in the late 16th century.][2]
    • 2005, news release, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Inc, 15 February,
    • They try to abscond his wages [...]

Translations [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ 2004 [1998], Elliott K. Dobbie; Dunmore, C. William, et al., Barnhart, Robert K. editor, Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Edinburgh, Scotland: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, ISBN 0550142304, page 4:
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2003 [1933], Brown, Lesley editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition 5th, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7, page 8:

French [edit]

Verb [edit]

abscond

  1. third-person singular present indicative of abscondre
    il abscondhe hides