The first definition given by dictionaries of ***[truant](http://www.thesaurus.com/)*** is that of a student who stays away from school without permission. The term is probably more commonly used in the idiomatic expression:

> 
> [to play truant](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learner-english/play-truant), which is used mainly in BrE (see[Ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=play%20truant%3Aeng_us_2012%2Cplay%20truant%3Aeng_gb_2012&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cplay%20truant%3Aeng_us_2012%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cplay%20truant%3Aeng_gb_2012%3B%2Cc0)), being the more common equivalent AmE expression "to play hooky". (Cambridge Dictionary)
> 
> 
> 

The term is very old, and according to [Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=truant) it was applied to students from the mid-1400s:

***Truant*** (n.):

> 
> * c. 1200, "beggar, vagabond," from Old French truant "beggar, rogue"...... Meaning "one who wanders from an appointed place," ***especially "a child who stays away from school without leave" is first attested mid-15c.***
> 
> 
> 

The idiomatic expression "to play truant" appears to be from the early [19th century](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=play%20truant&year_start=1700&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cplay%20truant%3B%2Cc0) when schooling was beginning to become more popular.

I couldn't d find evidence of earlier usages of truant (15/16th centuries) referring to students, and presumably schooling at that time was a very different concept from what it is today.

The earliest usage I was able to find is not related to school:

> 
> ***1603***, [William Shakespeare, Hamlet](http://nfs.sparknotes.com/hamlet/page_30.html), Act 1, Scene 2
> 
> 
> * *A truant disposition, good my lord.*
> 
> 
> 

Question:

Can anyone confirm that truant (in the sense of playing truant ) was actually used during such early centuries?