Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FU'GI-TIVE, a. [Fr. fugitif; L. fugitivus, from fugio, to flee, Gr. φευγω.]

1. Volatile; apt to flee away; readily wafted by the wind. The more tender and fugitive parts. Woodward.
2. Not tenable; not to be held or detained; readily eacaping; as, a fugitive idea. Locke.
3. Unstable; unsteady; fleeting; not fixed or durable. Johnson.
4. Fleeing; running from danger or pursuit. Milton.
5. Fleeing from duty; eloping; escaping. Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself, while her parents are in tears? Clarissa.
6. Wandering; vagabond; as, a fugitive physician. Wotton.
7. In literature, fugitive compositions are such as are short and occasional, written in haste or at intervals, and considered to be fleeting and temporary.