Absconder

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /æbˈskɑn.dɚ/

Definitions

1. A person who flees secretly to escape legal consequences or obligations
2. a person who departs hastily and covertly to elude responsibility or prosecution
3. someone who escapes furtively to avoid accountability or legal trouble

Etymology: Latin "abscondere" joined "abs-", meaning "away from," and "condere," meaning "conceal" or "hide," so the original sense was hiding oneself out of sight. English borrowed the verb "abscond" from this Latin base, with Middle French "abscondre" as an intermediate step. Absconder adds the agent suffix -er, which comes from Latin "-ārius" and reached English through Old French "-ier" and Middle English "-er." The suffix turns the verb into a noun for the person doing the hiding.

Synonyms: fugitive, runaway, escapee, evader, absentee

Antonyms: returnee, comer, arriver, settler, stayer