I. -nt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English vagraunt, probably modification (influenced by Middle French vagant vagrant, from present participle of vaguer to wander) of Middle French waucrant, wacrant wandering, from Old French, from present participle of waucrer, wacrer, walcrer to roll, roam, wander, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English wealcan to roll, turn, revolve — more at vague , walk
1.
a.
(1) : a person who has no established residence and wanders idly from place to place without lawful or visible means of support
(2) : one whose conduct constitutes statutory vagrancy ; especially : one (as an itinerant peddler trading without a license, a common prostitute wandering in the public streets, one begging in a public place, a fortune teller, one exhibiting an obscene picture in a public place, one guilty of indecent exposure, one playing or betting in a public place at or with a gambling table or instrument, and formerly a pimp) whose conduct constitutes vagrancy under British law
b. : one who leads a wandering life : wanderer
a chronic vagrant from the spirit's home — Edward Sapir
2. : an insect or other small arthropod that produces no web, nest, gall, or other protective structure but wanders at large where suitable food is to be found
Synonyms: see vagabond
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English vagraunt, probably modification of Middle French waucrant, wacrant
1.
a. : wandering about from place to place usually with no means of support
his house was known to all the vagrant train — Oliver Goldsmith
b. : tied to or as if to no home or country : roving
administer the government in the name of vagrant and mendicant Kings — T.B.Macaulay
2.
a. : having a fleeting, wayward, or inconstant quality
had cleared my soul of sundry vagrant impulses — Mary Austin
his vagrant attention was caught — Dorothy Sayers
hummed snatches of some vagrant melody — H.A.Sinclair
b. : having no fixed course, direction, or aim : random
the vagrant breeze … died down again — Ellen Glasgow
a vagrant shaft of sunlight struck the ocean — Jack London
3. : of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer
go down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life — John Masefield