vagabondism

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vag·a·bond

(văg′ə-bŏnd′)

A person who moves from place to place without a permanent home and often without a regular means of support.

adj.

Of, relating to, or characteristic of a vagabond.

intr.v. vag·a·bond·ed, vag·a·bond·ing, vag·a·bonds

To wander or travel about, especially as a vagabond.

[Middle English vagabonde, from Old French vagabond, from Late Latin vagābundus, wandering, from Latin vagārī, to wander, from vagus, wandering.]

vag′a·bond′age n.

vag′a·bond′ism n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vagabondism

1. the tendency to wander from place to place without a settled home; nomadism.
2. the life of a tramp; vagrancy. Also called vagabondage. — vagabond, n., adj.

See also: Behavior

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References in periodicals archive ?

That elderly lady--was it any one in the world but the hospitable nurse and helper of myself and my poor wounded friend, in the early times of vagabondism? There could be no mistaking it.

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Many of the arrivals were from Melbourne, and de Boos was not impressed with them: "they have amongst them no very small amount of 'rowdies'--men who bear upon their features the unmistakeable impress of crime and vagabondism" (November 6).