A state of safety, protection or shelter.
"The stormy night found them seeking refuge in a small cabin by the lake."
In plain English: A refuge is a safe place where you can find protection from danger or trouble.
"The small town serves as a peaceful refuge for people seeking escape from city life."
Usage: Use the noun refuge when referring to a physical sanctuary or an abstract sense of safety and peace. As a verb, it specifically means returning to such a protected place for relief from danger or distress.
To return to a place of shelter.
"After surviving the storm, they hurried back to their cabin as a refuge from the cold wind."
In plain English: To take refuge is to hide somewhere safe from danger or trouble.
"The frightened animal ran into the thicket to find refuge from the storm."
The word refugee entered English via the Middle and Old French forms from a Latin root meaning "a place to flee." It is built on the concept of fleeing away, combining a prefix indicating repetition or completion with the verb for running away.