Vagrants

/ˈveɪɡrənts/ noun

Definition

People who wander from place to place without a fixed home or stable employment; homeless wanderers.

Etymology

From Latin 'vagrans,' present participle of 'vagrari' (to wander), from 'vagus' (wandering, vague). The '-t' ending marks it as a present participle before it became a noun.

Kelly Says

Historically, 'vagrant' was a legal category with serious consequences—in medieval Europe and colonial America, vagrants could be arrested, whipped, or forced into servitude, making it a word with dark legal power!

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