Absconding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of leaving hurriedly and secretly to avoid detection or legal prosecution while also disappearing from a location without permission or warning
2. A clandestine departure that involves evading capture by disappearing from a place, often in relation to illicit activities or responsibilities
3. The process of secretly escaping from custody or obligations, typically to avoid legal issues or consequences while also withdrawing from a certain area without notice

Etymology: Latin "abscondere" meant to hide something by putting it away out of sight, built from "abs" ("away") and "condere" ("to put together, store"). The same verb lies behind a far humbler English word: "sconce" once meant a shelter or a protective cover, and later a fortification, before it came to name the wall bracket that holds a candle. Both words descend from the same root, the Indo-European *dʰeh₁-, "to put or place," so a hidden store and a wall lamp are distant relatives. English took the word either directly from Latin or through Middle French "abscondre," and it kept the sense of concealment: to hide yourself away, usually to escape the law or a debt. "Absconding" is simply the ongoing form of that verb, so it describes someone in the act of slipping off secretly, which is exactly what the Latin tucked-away-store image suggests.

Synonyms: fleeing, escaping, running away, departing, eloping

Antonyms: arriving, staying, remaining, settling, returning