Absquatulate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /æbˈskwɑt͡ʃ.ʊ.leɪt/

Definitions

1. To make a swift and clandestine departure from a location, often with the intent to avoid being noticed or facing responsibilities
2. To depart quickly and without drawing attention, especially to avoid obligations or trouble
3. To exit a place in a sudden and secretive manner, often to escape responsibility or notice

Etymology: "Absquatulate" is a mock-Latin jumble coined in American English, first attested in the 1830s, and it sounds far more classical than it is. It was built as a blend of three English words: "abscond," "squat," and "perambulate." From "abscond" it took the prefix "ab-," meaning "away from"; from "squat" it took the idea of crouching down; and from "perambulate" it took the ending "-ulate," which was really meant to be the "-ate" of the original word. The result was a joke meaning roughly "get up from a squat and leave quickly." The middle syllables may also have been nudged by the dialect verb "squattle," meaning to depart, and by the frequentative "-le" ending. The word belongs to the same family of cheerful American departure words as "skedaddle," which appeared around the same time. The word was attested in the New Orleans Weekly Picayune in December 1839, which is one of the earliest records of its use.

Synonyms: depart, leave, abscond, flee, run away