or awol adj.

Absent without leave.

n.

One who is absent without leave.

Origin: 1863

Americans on both sides in the Civil War sometimes skedaddled (1861, a Union term), not only from the battlefield but from their assigned posts. The phrase absent without leave was used to designate those who were gone for a relatively short time, as opposed to permanent deserters. In the Army of the Confederacy, such a soldier was punished by being draped with a sign bearing the initials "A.W.O.L." to signify his crime, that is, being absent without leave.

At first A.W.O.L. was pronounced letter by letter. This is evident in the humorous World War I variant A. W. O. Loose, meaning the same thing as A.W.O.L. By the start of World War II, however, the pronunciation had changed to "AY wall," as if the initials constituted one word rather than an abbreviation. Humorously contrived attributions of the letters in World War II included "A Wolf On the Loose" and "After Women Or Liquor." In our century, it has also been possible to be AWOL from a pursuit in civilian life.

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The adjective has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: absent without permission
  Synonym: truant

Meaning #2: (military) having deserted your post or station without leave

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - fraværende uden orlov, absenteret, rømmet
n. - person, som er fraværende uden orlov, absenteret person

Nederlands (Dutch)
afwezig zonder verlof

Français (French)
adj. - (Mil, abrév) AWOL, absent
n. - (Mil) absent sans autorisation

Deutsch (German)
adj. - (Abk.), unerlaubt von der Truppe entfernt
n. - unerlaubt von der Truppe entfernter Soldat

Ελληνική (Greek)
abbr. - αδικαιολογήτως απών

Italiano (Italian)
assente senza permesso, disertore

Português (Portuguese)
abbr. - ausente sem permissão (Mil.)

Русский (Russian)
находиться в самовольной отлучке, находящийся в самовольной отлучке, находясь в самовольной отлучке, лицо, находящееся в самовольной отлучке

Español (Spanish)
adj. - ausente sin permiso, ausente sin licencia
n. - persona ausente sin permiso o sin licencia

Svenska (Swedish)
abbr. - ogiltig frånvaro

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
擅离职守的, 开小差的, 擅离职守的人, 开小差的人

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 擅離職守的, 開小差的
n. - 擅離職守的人, 開小差的人

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 무단 결근의
n. - 무단 결근

日本語 (Japanese)
abbr. - 無断欠勤して

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(اختصار) اختصار معناه مهبط صالح لكافه الأحوال الجويه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נעדר ללא רשות‬
n. - ‮נפקד (משירות צבאי)‬

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awol