elopement

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

ELO'PEMENT, noun Private or unlicensed departure from the place or station to which one is assigned by duty or law; as the elopement of a wife from her husband, or of a daughter from her father's house, usually with a lover or gallant. It is sometimes applied to the departure of a son or an apprentice, in like manner.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

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