different between vagrant vs loafer

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?ve????nt/
• Hyphenation: va?grant

Etymology 1

From Late Middle English vagraunt (“person without proper employment; person without a fixed abode, tramp, vagabond”) [and other forms], probably from Anglo-Norman vagarant, wakerant, waucrant (“vagrant”) [and other forms] and Old French walcrant, waucrant (“roaming, wandering”) [and other forms], perhaps influenced by Latin vag?r?, the present active infinitive of vagor (“to ramble, stroll about; to roam, rove, wander”). Old French walcrant is the present participle of vagrer, wacrer, walcrer (“to wander, wander about as a vagabond”) [and other forms], from Frankish *walkr?n (“to wander about”), the frequentative form of *walk?n (“to walk; to wander; to stomp, trample; to full (make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing)”), from Proto-Germanic *walk?n? (“to roll about, wallow; to full”), *walkan? (“to turn, wind; to toss; to roll, roll about; to wend; to walk; to wander; to trample; to full”), from Proto-Indo-European *walg-, *walk-, *welg?-, *welk-, *wolg- (“to turn, twist; to move”), ultimately from *welH- (“to turn; to wind”).

The English word is cognate with Latin valgus (“bandy-legged, bow-legged”), Middle Dutch walken (“to knead; to full”), Old English wealcan (“to roll”), ?ewealcan (“to go; to walk about”), Old High German walchan, walkan (“to move up and down; to press together; to full; to walk; to wander”), Old Norse valka (“to wander”). See further at walk.

Noun

vagrant (plural vagrants)

1. (dated) A person who wanders from place to place; a nomad, a wanderer.

   Synonyms: itinerant, rover; see also Thesaurus:wanderer

2. (specifically) A person without settled employment or habitation who supports himself or herself by begging or some dishonest means; a tramp, a vagabond.

   Synonyms: drifter, hobo; see also Thesaurus:vagabond
3. Vagrans egista, a widely distributed Asian butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
4. (biology, especially ornithology) An animal, typically a bird, found outside its species' usual range.

Derived terms

Related terms

• vagary
• vagation

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English vagraunt, vagaraunt (“having no proper employment; having a tendency to go astray or wander; wayward”), from Anglo-Norman vagarant, wakerant, waucrant (“vagrant”) and Old French walcrant, waucrant (“roaming, wandering”); see further at etymology 1.

Adjective

vagrant (comparative more vagrant, superlative most vagrant)

1. Wandering from place to place, particularly when without any settled employment or habitation.

   Synonyms: itinerant, nomadic, peripatetic, vagabond, (obsolete) vagrom, vague
2. Of or pertaining to a vagabond or vagrant, or a person fond of wandering.
3. (figuratively) Moving without a certain direction; roving, wandering; also, erratic, unsettled.

   Synonyms: inconstant, straggling, straying, vagabond, (obsolete) vagrom, vague, wayward

Translations

Notes

References

Further reading

• vagrancy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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