'Vagrancy' is the state of having no home and no work, and wandering from place to place — and, in the older law books, the crime of doing so. For a long time in Britain and America there were 'vagrancy laws': if the police found you sleeping in the street, with no money and no job, they could arrest you for vagrancy itself, not for anything you had done to anyone. That is the sense the dictionary is giving you here.

'Vagrancy' is the state of having no home and no work, and wandering from place to place『Vagrancy』指的是沒有家、沒有工作、四處遊蕩的狀態—— and, in the older law books, the crime of doing so在比較舊的法律書裡，也指這樣做本身的罪行。 For a long time in Britain and America there were 'vagrancy laws'在英國和美國有很長一段時間都有『vagrancy laws』（流浪罪法）： if the police found you sleeping in the street, with no money and no job如果警察發現你睡在街上、身無分文又沒工作， they could arrest you for vagrancy itself他們可以直接以vagrancy本身逮捕你， not for anything you had done to anyone不是因為你對誰做了什麼。 That is the sense這就是這個意思， the dictionary is giving you here字典在這裡給你的。

You should know that this is now mostly a historical and legal word. Many of those laws have been struck down or quietly dropped, because people came to see that punishing someone for being poor is not really justice. So today you meet 'vagrancy' in three places: history books, legal writing, and news stories arguing about how cities treat homeless people.

You should know that this is now mostly你該知道，現在這主要是 a historical and legal word一個歷史和法律用詞。 Many of those laws have been struck down or quietly dropped那些法律很多已經被廢除、或悄悄不再執行了， because people came to see that因為人們漸漸明白 punishing someone for being poor is not really justice因為貧窮而懲罰一個人並不是真正的正義。 So today you meet 'vagrancy' in three places所以現在你會在三個地方遇到『vagrancy』： history books, legal writing, and news stories arguing about how cities treat homeless people歷史書、法律文件，還有討論城市如何對待街友的新聞報導。

In ordinary conversation nobody says it — a modern speaker says 'homelessness'. And the two words are not the same in feeling: 'homelessness' points at a problem people are suffering, while 'vagrancy' points at a person being blamed. Choose carefully.

In ordinary conversation nobody says it在日常對話裡沒有人會這樣說， a modern speaker says現代人會說 'homelessness'『homelessness』（無家可歸）。 And the two words are not the same in feeling而且這兩個字的語感不一樣： 'homelessness' points at a problem people are suffering『homelessness』指向人們正在承受的一個問題， while 'vagrancy' points at a person being blamed而『vagrancy』則指向一個正在被責怪的人。 Choose carefully用哪個字要小心選。