Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Refugee

Refugee (r?f`?*j?") , noun

[French réfugié, from se réfugier to take refuge. See Refuge, n.]

1.
One who flees to a shelter, or place of safety.
2.
Especially, one who, in times of persecution or political commotion, flees to a foreign power or country for safety; as, the French refugees who left France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes.