runagate

American  

[ruhn-uh-geyt] / ˈrʌn əˌgeɪt /

noun

1. a fugitive or runaway.

2. a vagabond or wanderer.

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runagate British  

/ ˈrʌnəˌɡeɪt /

noun

1. archaic

   1. a vagabond, fugitive, or renegade

   2. ( as modifier )

      a runagate priest

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Etymology

Origin of runagate

1520–30; run (v.) + obsolete agate away; sense influenced by obsolete renegate ( Middle English renegat < Medieval Latin renegātus renegade )

Example Sentences

When this Pickthank had told his tale, the Judge directed his speech to the Prisoner at the Bar, saying, Thou Runagate, Heretick, and Traitor, hast thou heard what these honest Gentlemen have witnessed against thee?

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume III (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland I by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)

Runagate, run′a-gāt, n. a vagabond: renegade: an apostate: a fugitive.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Runagate is well known to be a corrupt doublet of renegade, one who has "denied" his faith.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest