- vagrant
- vagrant [vā′grənt]n.[ME vagraunt, prob. < Anglo-Fr wacrant, walcrant < OFr walcrer, to wander < Frank * walken (see WALK): infl. prob. by L vagari, to wander]1. a person who wanders from place to place or lives a wandering life; rover2. one who wanders from place to place without a regular job, supporting oneself by begging, etc.; idle wanderer; vagabond3. Law a tramp, beggar, prostitute, or similar idle or disorderly persons whose way of living makes them liable to arrest and detentionadj.1. wandering from place to place or living a wandering life; roaming; nomadic2. living the life of a vagabond or tramp3. of or characteristic of a vagrant4. characterized by straggling growth: said of plants5. following no fixed direction, course, or pattern; random, wayward, fleeting, erratic, etc.SYN.- ITINERANTvagrantlyadv.SYN.- VAGRANT refers to a person without a fixed home who wanders about from place to place, gaining support from begging, etc., and in legal usage, implies such a person regarded as a public nuisance, subject to arrest; VAGABOND, orig. implying shiftlessness, rascality, etc., now often connotes no more than a carefree, roaming existence; BUM1, TRAMP, and HOBO are informal equivalents for the preceding, but BUM1 always connotes an idle, dissolute, often alcoholic person who never works, TRAMP and HOBO connote a vagrant, whether one who lives by begging or by doing odd jobs; HOBO now also means a migratory laborer
English World dictionary. V. Neufeldt. 2014.