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Exact historical dictionary sense

Escape in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels escape as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Escape

[OE. escapen, eschapen, OF. escaper, eschaper, F. echapper, fr. LL. ex cappa out of one's cape or cloak; hence, to slip out of one's cape and escape. See 3d Cape, and cf. Scape, v.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordescape
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OE. escapen, eschapen, OF. escaper, eschaper, F. echapper, fr. LL. ex cappa out of one's cape or cloak; hence, to slip out of one's cape and escape. See 3d Cape, and cf. Scape, v.]
Selected historical definitionTo flee from and avoid; to be saved or exempt from; to shun; to obtain security from; as, to escape danger.
Signed record IDwebster1913-escape-verb-724058e81deb
Source locatorCIDE.E, paragraph 5901; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "escape" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. escapen, eschapen, OF. escaper, eschaper, F. echapper, fr. LL. ex cappa out of one's cape or cloak; hence, to slip out of one's cape and escape. See 3d Cape, and cf. Scape, v.]" The selected historical definition says: "To flee from and avoid; to be saved or exempt from; to shun; to obtain security from; as, to escape danger."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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adverb

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[AS. efne. See Even, a., and cf. E'en.]

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[A later form for ensample, fr. L. exemplum, orig., what is taken out of a larger quantity, as a sample, from eximere to take out. See Exempt, and cf. Ensample, Sample.]

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English

[AS. Englisc, fr. Engle, Angle, Engles, Angles, a tribe of Germans from the southeast of Sleswick, in Denmark, who settled in Britain and gave it the name of England. Cf. Anglican.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Event

[L. eventus, fr. evenire to happen, come out; e out + venire to come. See Come.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Enjoy

[OF. enjoier to receive with joy; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. & F. joie joy: cf. OF. enjoir to enjoy. See Joy.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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