Language Matters | World Refugee Day: where the word ‘refugee’ came from

World Refugee Day, on June 20, raises awareness of the 30 million refugees fleeing conflict and persecution worldwide. While two-thirds of today’s refugees come from Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia, the word “refugee” has origins in another place and time.

“Refugee” was formed in 17th century English from the verb “refuge” from French (now rarely used in English) plus the suffix -ee, modelled on the French noun refugié, from the French verb refugier (“to take shelter, protect”). Refugiercame from the Latin refugium (“place of refuge, place to flee back to”), from re- (“back”) + fugere (“to flee”).

Refugié originally referred to the Reformed Protestants who fled persecution in 17th century Catholic France after the revocation in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes – the law that for almost a century had granted the French Huguenots religious liberty and civil rights. It was in various non-Catholic countries across Europe, in particular England, and in colonies in America and South Africa that they took refuge.

“Refuge” entered English in the early 15th century from the Anglo-Norman and Middle French refuge, in turn a learned borrowing from Latin, meaning protector (often God), shelter or protection, or the means of obtaining it. Its meaning later expanded to encompass protected spaces such as sanctuaries for wild animals (late 19th century), and establishments offering protection to women at risk of domestic violence (20th century). One can also seek or find refuge in something – silence, music, books – for relief from an unpleasant situation.

The Latin fugere is the root of several other English words. Fugitive, entering via the French fugitif, is one who flees or is escaping danger. Subterfuge – a device or stratagem to escape the force of an argument, avoid blame or justify one’s conduct, or a deceptive or evasive statement or action – is from the French subterfuge and the classical Latin subterfugere, with subter- meaning “below, underneath”, and thus “secretly”. A centrifuge spins things around an axis, exerting a centrifugal force that radiates outwards, separating substances of different densities.

The origins of “refugee” involved a law revoked centuries ago. Today, one year on from the start of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, we are on the verge of a national security law being enacted. It is a tragic irony that, Hong­kongers, a large proportion of whom are descendants of 1950s refugees fleeing the Chinese communist regime, may yet be compelled to seek refugee status elsewhere.