fugac1ty

[Fr. fugacité, from Lat. fugaz (gen it. fugacis ); Sp.fugacidad; Ital. fugacità.] 1. Volatility, fugaciousne . 2. Instability, uncertainty. A. As adjective : fulcible I. Ordinary Language: *1. Apt to flee away; volatile; easily wafted or carried away. "The more tender and fugitive parts, the leaves, of many of the more sturdy vegetables, fall off for want of the supply from beneath."-Woodward: Natural History. *2. Not to be held or detained; escaping easily; fleeting; not fixed or durable. "But, ah! the mighty bli is fugitive ." Dryden: Virgil's Georgio iii. 109. 3. Fleeing or running from danger, pursuit, or duty. "Multitudes, fugitive on every side." 4. Wandering, vagabond. II. Technically: Cowper: Task , ii. 106. 1. Dyeing: Not stable, permanent, or durable; opposed to fast or fixed colors. 2. Literature: A term applied to short and occasional pieces written in haste or for a special purpose, and not intended to be permanent. B. As substantive: 1. One who flees from danger, pursuit, or duty; a deserter. "But the fugitives from Ramsay's were a mere rabble." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng . , ch. xiii. 2. One who has fled from punishment and taken refuge under another power. "Its fugitive the church he gave, Though not a victim, but a slave." Scott: Marmion, iii. 15. 3. Anything hard to be caught or detained. Harte. "What muse but his can Nature's beauties hit, Or catch that airy fugitive called wit." Fugitive Slave Law : Hist.: Alaw which was enacted by the Congre of the United States in 1850. By its provisions a slave escaping from his master into another stato was to be seized and restored to his owner, and any person aiding in his flight was to be deemed guilty of having committed a penal offense. The most noted case arising during this exciting period of our National history was that of Dred Scott. füg-1-tive-ly, adv . [Eng. fugitive ; -ly.] Ina fugitive or fleeting manner; like a fugitive. füg-1-tive-ne , s [Eng. fugitive ; -ne .] 1. The quality of being fugitive; volatility; fugacity. *fu-gle, v . i. [Cf. fugleman .] To act as a guide or director.