Absconded Meaning: Definition, Examples, and Translations
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absconded
[รฆbหskษndษชd ]
Definition
legal context
To abscond means to leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid detection or arrest. It is often used in legal contexts to describe individuals who flee to evade law enforcement.
Synonyms
bolt, escape, evade, flee, run away.
Examples of usage
- The suspect absconded from the police station before they could take him into custody.
- After the fraud was uncovered, the accountant absconded with the company's funds.
- The thief absconded with valuable paintings from the museum.
- She absconded with her children, moving to a different state without notifying anyone.
Translations
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Interesting Facts
Legal Context
- In legal terms, absconding often refers to a defendant fleeing before a trial, evading law enforcement.
- Offenders who abscond from parole or probation are typically subject to arrest and additional legal consequences.
- The concept is especially significant in bail situations where individuals may vanish before facing charges.
Pop Culture
- Absconding is a popular theme in movies, often depicted in heist films where characters disappear with stolen goods.
- Books like 'The Great Gatsby' use the idea of absconding to illustrate themes of escaping old lives for new beginnings.
- In TV shows, characters frequently abscond to create suspense, leaving friends and relatives searching for them.
Psychology
- The behavior of absconding can be linked to feelings of anxiety or stress, prompting individuals to flee from uncomfortable situations.
- In psychology, running away can be a manifestation of deeper issues such as attachment problems or fear of intimacy.
- It's often studied in relation to juvenile behavior, where young people may abscond from homes or care facilities.
Literature
- Writers have long used the motif of characters absconding to explore themes of freedom, guilt, and the consequences of choice.
- Classic literature, such as 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', illustrates absconding as a quest for personal freedom.
- Dramatic poetry often invokes the desire to abscond as a metaphor for deeper emotional struggles or existential crises.
Origin of 'absconded'
Main points about word origin
- The word comes from the Latin 'abscondere', which means 'to hide away' or 'to conceal'.
- In the late 16th century, the term made its way into English, retaining a sense of secrecy.
- The prefix 'ab-' means 'away', while 'scond' relates to 'hide', creating the meaning of hiding away.
The word 'abscond' derives from the Latin 'abscondere', which means 'to hide away'. It is formed from the prefix 'ab-' meaning 'away' and 'condere' which means 'to put away' or 'to conceal'. The term has been used in English since the early 18th century, and it often carries connotations of illegal or secretive behavior, particularly in legal contexts. The use of 'abscond' suggests not just leaving but doing so with intent to escape responsibility or consequences. Over time, its application has expanded to include situations where someone disappears abruptly, regardless of the legality or intent involved.