flee

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old English flēon, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk-, *plew- (“to fly, flow, run”).

Cognate with Dutch vlieden, German fliehen, Icelandic flýja, Swedish fly, Gothic 𐌸𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þliuhan). Within English, related to fly and more distantly to flow.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /fliː/
Rhymes: -iː
Audio (US) (file)
Homophone: flea

VerbEdit

flee (third-person singular simple present flees, present participle fleeing, simple past and past participle fled)

(intransitive) To run away; to escape.
The prisoner tried to flee, but was caught by the guards.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1:
  The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
  As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.
(transitive) To escape from.
Many people fled the country as war loomed.

Thousands of people moved northward trying to flee the drought.
- 1962 October, “Talking of Trains: Passed to you, Mr. Macmillan”, in Modern Railways, page 220:
  The Government, having lit the fuse, is not going to be allowed to flee the explosion.
(intransitive) To disappear quickly; to vanish.
Ethereal products flee once freely exposed to air.

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

flight

TranslationsEdit

to run away; to escape

Afrikaans: vlug (af)
Albanian: vërdhoj (sq), arratis (sq), iki (sq)
Arabic: هَرَبَ‎ (ar) (haraba), فَرَّ‎ (farra)
Armenian: փախչել (hy) (pʿaxčʿel)
Asturian: fuxir
Azerbaijani: qaçmaq (az)
Basque: ihes egin (eu)
Belarusian: уцяка́ць impf (ucjakácʹ), уцячы́ pf (ucjačý), бегчы́ impf (bjehčý), убе́гчы pf (ubjéhčy)
Bengali: পালানো (bn) (palanō), ভাগা (bn) (bhaga), ফেরার করা (pherar kora)
Breton: redek (br), tec'hout (br), fuiñ
Bulgarian: бя́гам (bg) impf (bjágam), избягвам (bg) (izbjagvam)
Burmese: ထွက်ပြေး (my) (htwakpre:), လိုက်ပြေး (my) (luikpre:), ပြေး (my) (pre:)
Catalan: fugir (ca)
Chechen: дада (dada)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 逃 (zh) (táo), 奔逃 (zh) (bēntáo), 奔 (zh) (bēn)
Czech: utéct (cs), utéci (cs) pf, utíkat (cs) impf
Danish: flygte (da), fly (da)
Dutch: vluchten (nl), wegvluchten (nl), ontsnappen (nl), vlieden (nl)
Egyptian:

(jfd)
Esperanto: fuĝi
Estonian: põgenema
Faroese: flýggja
Finnish: paeta (fi), karata (fi)
French: s'enfuir (fr), prendre la fuite (fr)
Friulian: fuî
Galician: fuxir (gl)
Georgian: გაქცევა (gakceva)
German: fliehen (de), flüchten (de)
Gothic: 𐌸𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þliuhan)
Greek: φεύγω (el) (févgo)
Ancient Greek: φεύγω (pheúgō), τρέω (tréō)
Hebrew: נָס‎ (he) (nás)
Hindi: भागना (hi) (bhāgnā)
Hungarian: menekül (hu)
Icelandic: flýja (is)
Ido: fugar (io)
Irish: teith
Italian: fuggire (it)
Japanese: 逃げる (ja) (にげる, nigeru)
Kabuverdianu: fuji
Kazakh: қашу (kk) (qaşu)
Khmer: គេច (km) (kɨc), ក្រឡេច (km) (krɑləc), រត់ (km) (rŭət)
Korean: 달아나다 (ko) (daranada), 도망치다 (ko) (domangchida), 도망가다 (ko) (domanggada)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھەڵاتن‎ (hellatin), دەرپەڕین‎ (derperrîn)

Northern Kurdish: revîn (ku), bazdan (ku), bezîn (ku)

Zazaki: remayen
Kyrgyz: качуу (ky) (kaçuu)
Lao: ຫນີ (nī)
Latin: fugiō (la), fugitō (la), perfugio
Latvian: bēgt
Lithuanian: bėgti (lt)
Low German:
German Low German: flüchten
Macedonian: по́бегне (póbegne), на́пушти (nápušti)
Maguindanao: laguy
Maori: kairere, tūrere, papahoro
Mongolian: зугтах (mn) (zugtax)
Northern Sami: báhtarit
Norwegian:
Bokmål: flykte (no), rømme (no)

Nynorsk: flykte, rømme
Occitan: fugir (oc)
Old Church Slavonic: бѣжати (běžati)
Old English: flēon, ætflēon
Old Norse: flýja
Old Saxon: fliohan
Persian: گریختن‎ (fa) (gorixtan), فرار کردن‎ (fa)
Polish: uciec (pl) pf, uciekać (pl) impf, zbiec (pl) pf, umknąć (pl) pf, umykać impf
Portuguese: escapar (pt), fugir (pt)
Quechua: ayqey, chinkakapuy, mitikuy
Romanian: scăpa (ro), evada (ro), fugi (ro)
Russian: убега́ть (ru) impf (ubegátʹ), убежа́ть (ru) pf (ubežátʹ), удира́ть (ru) impf (udirátʹ), удра́ть (ru) pf (udrátʹ)
Sami:
Kildin Sami: поа̄ччкэ (poа̄ččke)

Lule Sami: báhtarit
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бежати impf

Roman: bežati (sh) impf
Slovak: utekať impf, utiecť pf
Slovene: bežati (sl) impf
Spanish: huir (es)
Swedish: fly (sv)
Tajik: гурехтан (tg) (gurextan)
Telugu: పారిపోవు (te) (pāripōvu)
Thai: หนี (th) (nǐi)
Turkish: kaçmak (tr)
Turkmen: gaçmak
Ukrainian: тіка́ти impf (tikáty), утіка́ти impf (utikáty), утекти́ pf (utektý), бі́гти (uk) impf (bíhty)
Urdu: بهاگنا‎ (bhāgnā)
Uyghur: قاچماق‎ (qachmaq)
Uzbek: qochmoq (uz)
Venetian: fuxir, fùxer, fugér, fugir
Vietnamese: bôn (vi), bôn đào (vi), bỏ chạy
Welsh: ffoi (cy)
Yakut: куот (kuot)
Yiddish: אַנטלויפֿן‎ (antloyfn)

to escape from

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: փախչել (hy) (pʿaxčʿel)
Breton: tec'hel (br)
Bulgarian: избягвам (bg) (izbjagvam)
Catalan: fugir (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: utéci (cs) pf, utíkat (cs) impf
Danish: flygte (da)
Dutch: ontkomen (nl), ontlopen (nl), ontvluchten (nl)
Esperanto: fuĝi
Finnish: paeta (fi), karata (fi)
French: fuir (fr), échapper (fr)
Friulian: fuî
Georgian: გაქცევა (gakceva)
German: fliehen (de), entfliehen (de), flüchten (de)
Icelandic: flýja (is)
Ido: eskapar (io)
Irish: teith ó/roimh
Japanese: 逃げる (ja) (にげる, nigeru)
Kabuverdianu: fuji
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ڕاکردن‎ (ckb) (rakirdin)
Latin: fugio (la), confugio (la), diffugio, profugio, refugio (la), evado, evado
Macedonian: и́збегне (ízbegne)
Polish: uciec (pl), uciekać (pl), zbiec (pl), umknąć (pl), umykać
Portuguese: escapar de, fugir de
Romanian: fugi (ro)
Russian: убега́ть (ru) impf (ubegátʹ), убежа́ть (ru) pf (ubežátʹ), удира́ть (ru) impf (udirátʹ), удра́ть (ru) pf (udrátʹ)
Spanish: huir (es)
Swedish: fly (sv)
Telugu: పారిపోవు (te) (pāripōvu)
Thai: หนี (th) (nǐi)
Welsh: ffoi (cy)

to disappear quickly

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Breton: tec'hout (br)
Bulgarian: изчезвам бързо (izčezvam bǎrzo)
Catalan: esvair-se (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: zmizet (cs) pf, vypařit se pf, zdrhnout (cs) pf (colloquial)
Dutch: vervliegen (nl), vlieden (nl)
Finnish: kadota (fi)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: evanesco, aufugio
Maori: hārewa (of birds)
Polish: ulotnić się, ulatniać się
Portuguese: sumir (pt)
Romanian: (figuratively) a se evapora, dispărea (ro)
Russian: улету́чиваться (ru) impf (uletúčivatʹsja), улету́читься (ru) pf (uletúčitʹsja)
Spanish: desvanecerse (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked