Rømte

Rømte is a Norwegian verb form meaning escaped or fled. It is the preterite (past simple) form of the verb å rømme, which means to escape, flee, or run away. The infinitive is rømme, and the present tense is rømmer. The past participle is rømt, which is used with the auxiliary har to form perfect tenses, as in har rømt.

In Bokmål, the typical past tense is rømte, while in many Nynorsk varieties and some dialects the corresponding form is rømde. This reflects regional variation in spelling and pronunciation of the preterite.

Usage and typical meaning: rømte is used to describe someone leaving a place to avoid danger, captivity, or other threats. It is common in news reporting, historical writing, and narrative prose. The verb often appears with the preposition fra to indicate what is being escaped, for example, rømte fra fengselet (escaped from the prison) or rømte fra landet (escaped from the country). It can also appear intransitively in contexts describing flight from danger or duty.

Examples:

- Fangen rømte fra fengselet i natt.

- Lederen rømte landet etter hendelsen.

- Hun har rømt og søkt beskyttelse i en annen by.

Related terms include flykte, unnslippe, and rømme seg, though rømme seg is less common in modern usage. Overall, rømte functions as a straightforward past-tense form for describing acts of escaping in Norwegian.