Meaning

noun the act of escaping physically

noun an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy

noun nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do

originFrom Middle English escapen, from Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French escaper ( = Old French eschaper, modern French échapper), from Vulgar Latin *excappāre (“to escape a garment, get out of one's clothing”, literally “to free oneself from one's cape”), from Latin ex- (“out”) + Late Latin cappa (“cape, cloak”). Cognate with escapade. Also doublet of scape.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0