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Craig White's Literature Courses Terms / Themes Refugee (relative to immigrant?) |
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Oxford English Dictionary
1.b. gen. A person who has been forced to leave his or her home and seek refuge elsewhere, esp. in a foreign country, from war, religious persecution, political troubles, the effects of a natural disaster, etc.; a displaced person.
Historical uses:
1.a. A Protestant who fled France to seek refuge elsewhere from religious persecution in the 17th and 18th centuries, esp. following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Now rare (hist. in later use).
c. In negative sense: a person who is fleeing from justice, deserved punishment, etc.; a runaway, a fugitive. In later use only with from, esp. in refugee from justice.
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