Fugitive, a.
Etymology: [OE. fugitif, F. fugitif, fr. L. fugitivus, fr. fugere to flee. See Bow to bend, and cf. Feverfew.]
1. Fleeing from pursuit, danger, restraint, etc., escaping, from service, duty etc.; as, a fugitive solder; a fugitive slave; a fugitive debtor. The fugitive Parthians follow. Shak. Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself while her parents are in tear Richardson A libellous pamphlet of a fugitive physician. Sir H. Wotton.
2. Not fixed; not durable; liable to disappear or fall away; volatile; uncertain; evanescent; liable to fade; -- applied to material and immaterial things; as, fugitive colors; a fugitive idea. The me more tender and fugitive parts, the leaves . . . of vegatables. Woodward. Fugitive compositions, Such as are short and occasional, and so published that they quickly escape notice.
Syn. -- Fleeting; unstable; wandering; uncertain; volatile; fugacious; fleeing; evanescent.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Fugitive, n.
1. One who flees from pursuit, danger, restraint, service, duty, etc.; a deserter; as, a fugitive from justice.
2. Something hard to be caught or detained. Or Catch that airy fugitive called wit. Harte. Fugitive from justice (Law), one who, having committed a crime in one jurisdiction, flees or escapes into another to avoid punishment.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for fugitive; he lists it under transient.
Where he writes about it:
That which is fleeting is viewed as in the act of passing swiftly by, and that which is fugitive (L. fugio, flee) as eluding attempts to detain it; that which is evanescent (L. evanesco, from e, out, and vanus, empty, vain) as in the act of vanishing even while we gaze, as the hues of the sunset. — from transient