Other forms: absconded, absconding, absconds
To abscond is to run away secretly, often taking what is not yours. Abscond with the funds, absconded overnight, absconded from custody.
It is the technical word for a prisoner leaving lawful custody and for a bailed defendant failing to appear. The Latin means to hide away, which is where the secrecy in the word comes from.
1verbabscondTo run away secretly, often taking what is not yours.
“The treasurer absconded with the club's money and was never seen again.”
abscond is a fleeing.
Latin abscondere means to hide away, from abs, away, plus condere, to store.
Proto-Indo-European
*dʰeh₁-
Latin
abscondō
Middle French
abscondre
English, today
abscond
Built from
Borrowed from Middle French abscondre, from Latin abscondō. Either borrowed from Middle French abscondre or directly from Latin abscondō (“hide”); formed from abs, ab (“away”) + condō (“put together, store”), from con- (“together”) + dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA