wander

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
  2. verb be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage
  3. verb go via an indirect route or at no set pace

Etymology

From Middle English wandren, from Old English wandrian (“to wander, roam, fly around, hover; change; stray, err”), from Proto-West Germanic *wandarōn (“to wander”), from *wandōn (“to turn, change”) + *-rōn (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Scots wander (“to wander”), German wandern (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Dutch wandelen (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Danish vandre (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Swedish vandra (“to wander, hike”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

roll, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabond

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