refuge

Etymology

From Middle English refuge, from Old French refuge, from Latin refugium, from re- + fugiō (“flee”). Doublet of refugium.

noun

1. A state of safety, protection or shelter.
2. A place providing safety, protection or shelter.
3. Something or someone turned to for safety or assistance; a recourse or resort.
   Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world. December 21, 2011, Helen Pidd, “Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis”, in the Guardian
4. An expedient to secure protection or defence.
   This is occaſioned by this, that too too often the Teaching of a Grammar School is the ordinary Refuge that deſperate Perſons as to any other Employment in good Learning betake themſelves to; whilſt but a few know themſelves ſuited with intellectual and moral Abilities, and fewer have that Encouragement, when they undertake it, their Pains deſerve. a. 1639, Henry Wotton, An Essay on the Education of Children, in the First Rudiments of Learning, London: T. Waller, published 1753, page 17
5. A refuge island.

verb

1. (intransitive) To return to a place of shelter.
   Among these macaques, although activity cycles are quite variable from location to location, refuging is a common characteristic. 2011, Michael D. Gumert, Agustín Fuentes, Lisa Jones-Engel, Monkeys on the Edge
2. (transitive, obsolete) To shelter; to protect.