vagrancy

[vey-gruhn-see]

noun

plural

vagrancies 

1. the state or condition of being a vagrant.

   an arrest for vagrancy.

2. the conduct of a vagrant.

3. mental wandering; reverie.

vagrancy

/ ˈveɪɡrənsɪ /

noun

1. the state or condition of being a vagrant

2. the conduct or mode of living of a vagrant

Other Word Forms

• nonvagrancy noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vagrancy¹

First recorded in 1635–45; vagr(ant) + -ancy

Example Sentences

On Thursday, he signed an executive order to address “endemic vagrancy” and end “crime and disorder on our streets.”

From Los Angeles Times

On Jan. 18, 1888, the Los Angeles Evening Express reported that “39 tramps, known to the constables as ‘hobos,’” had been arrested and found guilty of vagrancy.

From Los Angeles Times

Once released from prison, she emigrated to New York where in 1902 there is a record of her being placed in a workhouse as punishment for vagrancy.

From BBC

The Thirteenth Amendment's loophole was first exploited during the wake of the Civil War with “Black Codes” laws enabling the arrest of Black Americans for vague offenses like “vagrancy” and forcing them into involuntary servitude.

From Salon

These were designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and to ensure cheap labor by broadly drawn vagrancy statutes that facilitated local authorities arresting freed people and subjecting them to involuntary labor.

From Salon