different between outlaw vs loafer

English

Etymology

From Middle English outlawe, outlagh, utla?e, from Old English ?tlaga (“outlaw”), borrowed from Old Norse útlagi (“outlaw, fugitive”), equivalent to out- +? law. Cognate with Icelandic útlagi (“outlaw”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?tl??/

Noun

outlaw (plural outlaws)

1. A fugitive from the law.
2. (historical) A criminal who is excluded from normal legal rights; one who can be killed at will without legal penalty.
3. A person who operates outside established norms.

4. A wild horse.
5. (humorous) An in-law: a relative by marriage.
6. (humorous) One who would be an in-law except that the marriage-like relationship is unofficial.
7. (slang) A prostitute who works alone, without a pimp.
   • 1977, Joseph Julian, Social Problems (page 463)

     Without a pimp, she was an "outlaw," likely to be harassed, or threatened with assault or robbery on the street.

   • 2010, Lawrence Block, Eight Million Ways To Die

     She was an outlaw. Chance is doing some double-checking to see if she had a pimp nobody knew about, but it doesn't look likely.

Synonyms

• (fugitive): absconder, fugitive
• (criminal): bandit, wolfshead
• (person who operates outside established norms): anti-hero, deviant

Hypernyms

• (criminal): See Thesaurus:criminal
• (prostitute): See Thesaurus:prostitute

Translations

Verb

outlaw (third-person singular simple present outlaws, present participle outlawing, simple past and past participle outlawed)

1. To declare illegal.
2. To place a ban upon.
3. To remove from legal jurisdiction or enforcement.

4. To deprive of legal force.
   • 1662, Thomas Fuller, History of the Worthies of England

     our English common law was outlawed in those parts.

See also

• criminalize
• felonize
• misdemeanorize

Translations

Further reading

• outlaw in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• outlaw in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• outlaw at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?l??f?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?lo?f?/
• Rhymes: -??f?(r)

Etymology 1

Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (compare dialectal German loofen (“to run”), and English landlouper); or connected to Middle English love, loove, loffinge, looffinge (“a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers”), from Old English l?f (“remainder, residue, what is left”) (more at lave), which is akin to Scots lave (“the rest, remainder”), Old English l?fan (“to leave behind”) (more at leave).

Noun

loafer (plural loafers)

1. An idle person.
2. A shoe with no laces, resembling a moccasin.

Synonyms

• (idle person): bum, bumpkin, footler, idler, lout, yob, yobbo
• (footwear): penny loafer
• See also Thesaurus:idler

Translations

Etymology 2

From American Spanish lobo (“wolf”) (/?lo?o/), reinterpreted as or conflated with loafer (“idler”); compare the alternative forms which reflect other re-interpretations and conflations. Doublet of lupus and wolf.

Alternative forms

• lobo, lobo wolf
• lofer (wolf), lover (wolf), loper (wolf)

Noun

loafer (plural loafers)

1. (Southwestern US dialects) A wolf, especially a grey or timber wolf.

Usage notes

• Often used in compound with "wolf": "loafer wolf".

Further reading

• Robert N. Smead, Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West

Anagrams

• Florea, florae, floræ