To remove or carry away something, especially to hide or conceal it; an archaic legal term for removing a defendant beyond the court's jurisdiction.
From Old French 'esloignier,' from 'es-' (away) plus 'loin' (far). The term became specialized in English law to describe the illegal act of removing a defendant or evidence from reach of the court.
This medieval legal term reveals how common it was for defendants to flee or hide—the fact that courts needed a specific word for 'taking someone away where we can't reach them' shows that justice couldn't always catch its targets.
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