wanderingn.
/ˈwɒnd(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈwɑnd(ə)rɪŋ/ The action of the verb in various senses.
1.
a. Travelling from place to place or from country to country without settled route or destination; roaming. Often in plural, sometimes denoting a protracted period of devious journeying.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering
wandering1362
roamingc1390
roving?1520
error1594
rangling1594
wanderment1597
rambling1622
rolling1624
vagancy1641
roverya1653
pervagation1656
oberration1658
vagrancya1677
stravaiging1825
scamander1873
outwandering1880
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. Prol. 7 I was weori of wandringe and wente me to reste Vndur a brod banke bi a Bourne syde.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 515/1 Wanderynge, vagacio.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Wandrynge, discursus.
1664 Bp. J. Taylor Disswasive from Popery i. iii. 21 The labors of pilgrimages, superstitious and useless wandrings from place to place.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 223 The fatal Issue of so long a War, Your Flight, your Wand'rings, and your Woes declare.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels I. 24 The Night here will answer to the present Life, a state of Wandring and Weakness.
1797 H. Lee Canterbury Tales I. 119 [The letter] had followed him in his wanderings, and reached him at last by mere accident.
1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter I. i. 8 Joshua..settled down after his wanderings in his native town.
b. Of inanimate things: Devious movement from place to place.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > [noun] > moving without fixed course
vagationc1340
roving?1520
straying1548
wandering1827
milling1924
minnow-twisting1935
1827 E. Bulwer-Lytton Falkland i. 61 The air of heaven [is] not purer in its wanderings.
1867 Ld. Tennyson Holy Grail 664 Their wise men Were strong in that old magic which can trace The wandering of the stars.
1913 J. W. Jenkinson Vertebr. Embryol. i. 11 Amongst movements of single cells are comprised:..the wanderings of the germ-cells in early stages.
c. Of the eyes: Irregular turning this way and that.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > disordered movement
nystagmus1772
wandering1869
conjugate deviation1882
phoria1891
sursumduction1893
sursumvergence1897
oculogyric crisis1927
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. vii. 140 The idle indicated their inattention by the wandering of their eyes.
1859 Habits Good Society vii. 251 You should not show that you think so..by the toss of your head or the wandering of your eyes.
1869 T. H. Tanner Clin. Med. (ed. 2) 12 Condition of Nervous System... Wandering of eyes, state of pupils, squinting.
d. Of the mind, thoughts, desires, etc.: Aimless passing from object to object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > [noun]
wanderinga1300
evagationc1425
vagrancy1642
moonery1764
mooning1857
a1300 Cursor Mundi 27793 Vnnait talckhing, vnstedfastnes, o will wandring.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. HHHviiiv To call in our mynde frome vagacion or wandryng, and to apply vs to our duety reuerently.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 43 Beholdynge therwyth what pareyl he stondyth in yf he contynew rechelesly in suche wandryng of mynde vnto his deth.
1611 Bible (King James) Ecclus. vi. 9 Better is the sight of the eyes, then the wandering of the desire. View more context for this quotation
1712 E. Budgell Spectator No. 425. ¶1 A Poem of Milton's, which he entitles Il Penseroso, the Ideas of which were exquisitely suited to my present Wanderings of Thought.
1746 P. Francis in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles 90 (note) It might well seem, that this Inconsistency, this wandering of Spirit, might be the peculiar Folly of the Rich.
e. In wireless telegraphy: (see quot. 1926).
ΚΠ
1926 Gloss. Electr. Terms (Brit. Engin. Stand.) 183 Wandering, the alteration of apparent direction of received signals due to changes not caused by either the transmitting or the receiving stations.
2. Deviation from the right or intended path or direction, straying, aberration.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > [noun] > straying or going astray
vagationc1340
straya1400
outstray?a1425
will gate1440
out-way going1532
straying1548
out-straying1589
aberrationa1594
estraying1598
taveringa1599
straggling1601
wandering1711
1711 J. Greenwood Ess. Pract. Eng. Gram. 80 Beside denotes erring, or Wandring (‘as he shoots beside the mark’).
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I vii. 6 The regularity of my design Forbids all wandering as the worst of sinning.
1844 E. B. Browning Lost Bower l The next morning, all had vanished, or my wandering missed the place.
3. Disordered action of the mind due to illness or nervous exhaustion; rambling, delirium; in plural, delirious fancies, esp. as expressed in speech; incoherent ramblings.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > delirium or raving
wood dreameOE
mazec1300
paraphrenesisa1398
ravinga1398
deliramentc1450
idleness1535
delirium1563
randing1583
calenture1593
deliration1598
taveringa1599
ravery1599
delirement1613
debacchation1633
delirancy1645
deliry1657
deliriousness1671
paraphrenitis1683
paraphrosyne1684
deliracy1689
delirousness1694
paracope1749
paraphora1749
wandering1836
paralerema1848
paraleresis1857
paraphronesis1857
rambling1897
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) iii. 30 The theatre, and the public-house, were the chief themes of the wretched man's wanderings.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xii. 130 Here there was a very threatening array of symptoms..illusions of the sense of hearing, a fiery eye, and incessant mental wandering.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. 104 Every third day..his dejection, his fits of wandering seemed to indicate the approach of dissolution.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 398 Such are many degrees of transient mental failure, to which such terms as ‘wandering’ and ‘rambling’ are applied.
4. Gerundially in to go, or to be, a-wandering. Now rare or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > wander in thought [verb (intransitive)]
wanderc1400
transcur1528
gad1538
rove1549
ramble1616
to go, or to be, a-wandering1700
run1801
1700 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) ii. xxxiii. 222 Though his unattentive Thoughts be elsewhere a wandering.
1899 W. Besant Orange Girl ii. xxiii. 396 His wits gone a-wandering!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wanderingadj.
/ˈwɒnd(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈwɑnd(ə)rɪŋ/ 1.
a. Of people or animals: that moves from place to place or from country to country without readily apparent purpose; travelling to a vague (or distant) destination, or by uncertain and devious routes; (also) roving; vagrant; having no fixed abode or station.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [adjective] > with no fixed aim or wandering
wanderingc1000
erringa1340
waggeringa1382
vagant1382
vagabond1426
erroneousa1464
fugitive1481
wavering1487
vagrantc1522
gadding1545
roaming1566
roving1576
straggling1589
rambling?1609
wagand1614
wheelinga1616
gadling1616
vagring1619
erratical1620
vaguing1627
erratic1656
planetical1656
waif1724
vagrarious1795
stravaiging1825
vagarious1882
pirooting1958
c1000 Prudentius Glosses in Germania N.S. XI. 388/37 Uagantes demonas wandrigende pucan.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 157 The darkenesses of dethe whiche the envyous ennemye is wonte to brynge in to wandrynge sowlles.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Fluctivagus, wandring in rivers or waters.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Vagus, wandrynge and abydynge in noo place.
1589 T. Nashe Anat. Absurditie sig. Biiii The sillie Sheephearde committing his wandering sheepe to the custodie of his wappe.
1607 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1848) II. 293 To sie that thair be no wandering persones efter the hour of ten.
1642 J. Taylor Whole Life Henry Walker sig. A2 At least 500. Vagrants..were all suddainely Metamorphis'd and Transform'd into wandring Booke sellers.
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. ii. 553 Thick as Insects play, The wandring Nation of a Summer's Day.
a1832 A. Polson Eng. Law in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) II. 802/1 In an age of defective police, wandering labourers and ‘valiant beggars’ were objects of terror.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 95 The wandering adventurer [Baldearg O'Donnel] at first demanded nothing less than an earldom.
1878 J. Davidson Inverurie vii. 244 It is of the kind made at that period for the use of wandering priests.
b. Of pre-industrial peoples, and of animals: nomadic, roving, migratory. Frequently after scientific Latin errans, vagus, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [adjective] > with no fixed aim or wandering > as a way of life
wanderingc1400
walking1491
vagrant1546
unsettled1593
Scenite1600
irresianta1657
nomad1798
nomadical1801
seatless1807
nomadic1818
nomade1819
semi-nomadic1843
nomad-pastoral1880
semi-nomad1948
c1400 Prymer (1895) 10 Alle kynde of bestis & wandrynge [L. omnes bestiae et pecora], blesse ȝe to þe lord!
1555 in R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 355v From Mauritania or Barbarie toward the south is Getulia, a rowgh and saluage region whose inhabitantes are wylde and wanderynge people.
1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 506 Wandering Albatross... Diomedea Exulans.
1801 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. II. 66 Wandering Mouse. Mus Vagus... This..is frequent throughout the whole Tartarian desert, and is of a migrating nature.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 454 The Wandering Spider. This spider does not lie in wait for its prey, like several others; it is a lively, active hunter.
1836 P. B. Duncan Catal. Ashmolean Museum 75 Head of the..Wandering Albatross.—Diomedea exulans. Linn.
1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xii. 177 I was but too glad to set my horse's hoofs upon the land of the wandering tribes.
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 275 Wandering-Spiders (Errantia).
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting viii. 338 The Masaras, or wandering Bushmen.
c. the Wandering Jew n. A legendary personage who (according to a popular belief first mentioned in the 13th cent., and widely current at least until the 16th century), for having insulted Jesus on his way to the Cross, was condemned to wander over the earth without rest until the Day of Judgement. Often referred to as the proverbial type of restless and profitless travelling from place to place. Cf. French le juif errant, German der ewige Jude. For the application to trailing plants see sense 2e.In the earliest form of the legend the Wandering Jew is called Cartaphilus; in the best-known modern version his name appears as Ahasuerus, but other names also occur.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > wanderer > specific wanderer
Errant Jew?a1400
the Wandering Jew1632
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. viii. 345 Tradition, as their wandring Jew, the Shoomaker of Jerusalem is, of whom in Rome, they have wrot ten thousand fables.
1647 J. Hall Poems i. 10 Stitch't into a web, supply anew With annuary cloakes the wandring Jew.
1680 V. Alsop Mischief Impositions viii. 83 Would he have us, like the wandering Jew, ramble up and down for satisfaction, and never accept it?
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxviii. 417 And here am I a walkin' about like the wanderin' Jew—a sportin' character you have perhaps heerd on Mary my dear, as wos alvays doin' a match agin' time, and never vent to sleep.
d. wandering leaf: a leaf insect. Cf. walking leaf n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > member of
walking leaf1718
wandering1798
straw1827
1798 E. Donovan Epitome Nat. Hist. Insects China at Mantis flabellicornis He had never observed the same circumstance attend the Wandering Leaf, or Mantis Oratoria, in Europe.
1857 F. Gerhard Illinois as it Is 256 The most remarkable species of the Orthopterae is the ‘wandering leaf’.
1917 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 9 June 365/1 This transformation goes the farthest in the case of Phyllium siccifolium, the Wandering Leaf.
1999 Life Apr. 106 (caption) The Southeast Asian wandering leaf looks so much like the foliage on which it feeds that one such bug may take a bite out of another.
2. in combination.1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Wandrynge-wytted, vacillans.† i. wandering name n. Obsolete a term that may be applied indifferently to various objects.
a. Of things: Travelling (or carried) along in an uncertain, or frequently changing direction; moved, or moving, (idly) to and fro.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > [adjective] > moving without fixed course
vaganta1382
scatteringc1450
stragglinga1560
wandering1590
undirecteda1599
wayless1605
planetary1607
rambling?1609
exorbitant1613
exorbitating1632
random1655
unconducteda1677
devious1735
truant1791
wild1810
erratic1841
directionless1860
scrolloping1923
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. ix. sig. Ll2 It is not yron bandes, nor hundred eyes, Nor brasen walls, nor many wakefull spyes, That can withhold her wilfull wandring feet.
?a1600 Hist. Tom Thumb in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) II. 195 His shape it being such, That men should hear him speak, but not His wandering shadow touch.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 648 They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow, Through Eden took thir solitarie way. View more context for this quotation
a1668 W. Davenant Love & Honour ii. i, in Wks. (1673) II. 234 Lost like A blossom which the wandring wind Blows from the bosom of the Spring, to mix With Summer's dust.
1807 W. Wordsworth To Cuckoo i, in Poems II. 57 Shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice?
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xiii. 98 A scene so rude, so wild as this,..Ne'er did my wandering footsteps press, Where'er I happ'd to roam.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xxiv. 41 The very source and fount of Day Is dash'd with wandering isles of night. View more context for this quotation
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House lv. 530 The old housekeeper looks at him, and those wandering hands of hers are quite enough for Mrs. Bagnet's confirmation. [Cf. below: Only her fluttering hands give utterance to her emotions.]
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxii. 719 He had..had in his hands proofs of much that Fenwick had only gathered from wandering reports.
b. Of the mind, thoughts, affections, etc.: Moving vaguely (towards, or about, their object); not directed by reason or fixed purpose; random; restless; wanton.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > [adjective] > of thoughts: wandering
vagant1530
wandering1530
rambling1635
ramble-headeda1761
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 42 So the frayle & wretched soulle..can not sturre vp yt selfe from wandryng and vagant thoughtes.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 698/1 The mans mind is so wandringe that he can sattell hym upon nothynge.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) i. 17 b You, cleering altogether my minde, haue now driuen awaie the mistes which dimmed it & made it so wandering & running.
1673 J. Milton Psalm LXXXI in Poems (new ed.) 148 Then did I leave them to their will And to their wandring mind.
1688 M. Prior Ode Exod. iii. 14 vii Levelling at God his wand'ring Guess,..Laws to his Maker the learn'd Wretch can give.
1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea Pref. sig. A3 I had some wandring Reflections upon the Reasons alledged in my first Letter.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace Art of Poetry 33 Then learn this wandering Humour to controul.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. vi. 182 A deep sigh from Vivaldi recalled his wandering imagination.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. vii. 142 My father had often checked me for this wandering mood of mind.
c. Of the eyes: Roving, restless, turning this way and that.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > movements of eye
walling1513
rolling1532
roving1567
wandering1578
inconstant1598
loose1603
unrolling1647
voluble1661
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 278 Wherevnto he answered with a wandering eye [Fr. d'vn œil inconstant], Ha Mistresse, if I [etc.].
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles ii. i. 256 Pageant Shows, that charm the wandering Eye.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 217 The teacher may observe slow action, wandering eyes, twitchings.
d. Of the moon or stars (esp. tr. Latin planēta, or Greek πλανήτης): Not fixed, having a separate individual motion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > planetary movement > [adjective] > wandering
wandering1526
errantc1616
erratile1652
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Jude 13 They are wandrynge starres to whom is reserved the myst of darcknes for ever.
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 361/1 Sidera errantia,..the planets: the wandering starres.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iv. i. 97 We, the Globe, can compasse soone, Swifter then the wandring Moone. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 39 To behold the wandring Moon, Riding neer her highest noon.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 177 And yee five other wandring Fires that move In mystic Dance. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 55 Then Sailers quarter'd Heav'n, and found a Name For ev'ry fix'd and ev'ry wandring Star. View more context for this quotation
1829 Chapters Physical Sci. 365 Pythagoras..contended that..the comets were a kind of wandering stars.
e. Of plants: Trailing; sending out long tendrils, runners, or adventitious roots. Also in Wandering Jew (after 1c), Wandering Sailor(s, Wandering Jenny, Wandering Willie, popular names of certain plants: see quots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [adjective] > climbing, spreading, or creeping
running1548
spreading1560
flat1578
ramping1578
wandering1590
upcreeping1611
gadding1638
rambling1653
obsequious1657
reptant1657
scansive1657
scansory1657
procumbent1668
repent1669
scandenta1682
supine1686
scrambling1688
creeping1697
sarmentous1721
reptile1727
sarmentose1760
prostrate1773
trailing1785
decumbent1789
travelling1822
vagrant1827
sarmentaceous1830
humifuse1854
sarmentiferous1858
amphibryous1866
humistratous1880
climbing1882
clambering1883
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Primulaceae family or plants > [noun]
herb twopence1548
twopenny grass1548
water pimpernel1575
moneywort1578
pimpernel1633
piss-weed1714
samolus1753
bastard pimpernel1762
chaff-weed1796
pimpernel chaffweed1796
primwort1846
brook weed1861
money plant1873
Wandering Jenny1878
creeping Jenny1882
Wandering Sailor(s1882
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > climbing or creeping plants > [noun] > mother of thousands
mother of millions1832
Oxford weed1834
mother of thousands1856
Oxford plant1856
wall weed1866
Wandering Sailor(s1881
Wandering Jew1886
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ix. sig. V6 Of hewen stone the porch was fayrely wrought..; Ouer the which was cast a wandring vine.
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) Introd. 20 Lysimachia nummularia. Wandering Jenny.
1881 Rep. & Trans. Devonshire Assoc. XIII. 96 Wandering Sailors..Linaria Cymbalaria.
1882 H. Friend Gloss. Devon Plant Names Wandering Sailor... (2) Lysimachia Nummularia.
1882 Garden 28 Jan. 53/1 The creeping Saxifrage, or our old friend the ‘Wandering Jew’.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Wandering Jew, Linaria Cymbalaria, Mill. Suss.
1889 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 25 47 The creeping plant known locally as ‘Wandering Jew’..is found in the North-West Provinces, particularly, I believe, in Manitoba.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 544 Wandering Jew, or Wandering Willie.—The Eastern Province name of a creeping plant—a sort of periwinkle.
f. wandering fire or light: Will-o'-the-wisp. (Now often figurative after Tennyson's use.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > will-o'-the-wisp
fox-fire1483
foolish fire1563
ignis fatuus1563
fool's fire1583
Kit with the canstick or candlestick1584
going fire1596
will-o'-the-wisp1596
meteor1597
firedrake1607
wisp1618
ambulones1621
Dick-a-Tuesday1636
friar's lantern1645
gillian burnt-tail1654
Jill-burnt-tail1654
Jack-o'-lantern1658
fatuous fire1661
wildfire1663
wandering fire or light1667
Jack-a-Lent1680
fairy light1722
spunkie1727
Jill-o'-the-wisp1750
fen-fire1814
fatuus1820
marsh-light1823
feu follet1832
wisp-lighta1847
hob-lantern1847
ghost light1849
elf-fire1855
Peggy-with-her-lantern1855
fatuous light1857–8
marsh-fire1865
swamp fire1903
Min-Min1950
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 634 A wandring Fire Compact of unctuous vapor, which the Night Condenses, [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1789 W. Blake Little Boy Found in Songs of Innocence The little boy lost in the lonely fen, Led by the wand'ring light.
1869 Ld. Tennyson Holy Grail 319 How often, O my knights,..This chance of noble deeds will come and go Unchallenged, while ye follow wandering fires Lost in the quagmire!
g. Physiology and Pathology. Of diseases, pains, etc.: Moving from one part of the body to another (without clearly ascertained cause). wandering cells: amœboid cells.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [adjective] > other characteristics
hoteOE
redeOE
foulOE
elvishc1386
dryc1400
whitec1450
Naples1507
shaking1528
cold1569
exquisite1583
unpure1583
waterish1583
wandering1585
legitimate1615
sulphureous1625
tetrous1637
cagastrical1662
medical1676
ambulatory1684
ebullient1684
frantic1709
animated1721
progressive1736
cagastric1753
vegetative1803
left-handed1804
specific1804
subacute1811
animate1816
gregarious1822
vernal1822
ambilateral1824
subchronic1831
regressive1845
nummular1866
postoperative1872
ambulant1873
non-surgical1888
progredient1891
spodogenous1897
spodogenic19..
non-invasive1932
early-onset1951
adult-onset1957
non-specific1964
the world > life > biology > substance > cell > types of cells > [noun] > motile or amoebic cell
myxamoeba1875
immigrant1885
microcyst1887
amœbocyte1892
wandering cells1896
streptocyte1897
swarmer cell1950
swarmer1964
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 422/1 Morbus palabundus,..a wandering disease, or a sickenesse spread here and there.
1684 tr. S. Blankaart Physical Dict. 31 Arthritis vaga, a Wandring Gout, is a Disease in the Joynts that creates pain sometimes in one Limb, sometimes in another.
1706 E. Baynard Cold Baths (1709) ii. 320 Aches and wandering Pains.
1725 N. Robinson New Theory of Physick 149 As the Scene of all acute continual Fevers is acted in the Blood, so those erratic, wandering Fevers..are deriv'd from the same Original.
1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 92 Here in the immediate neighbourhood of the wandering cells, the short, curved bacillary forms could be seen to have undergone the transformation.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 442 Uric acid in excess and oxalic acid in the urine are often attended by..wandering..pains in the back, thigh, calf of leg, and sole of foot.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 81 Fürster also held that wandering leucocytes might become transformed into glia cells.
1899 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Wandering abscess, an abscess that tracks along so as to point at a distance from its original seat. Wandering cells, a synonym for Amœboid cells.
h. Of roads, rivers, etc.: Lying in an irregularly bending line, winding, meandering; also figurative. Also transferred (Physiology) as the distinctive epithet of a particular pair of nerves (after modern Latin par vagum, nervi vagi).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [adjective] > bending or winding
winding1555
straying1585
crankling1596
meandrian1608
tortive1609
meandered1612
serpentine1615
snailing1615
meandering1617
meandrous1639
meandric1658
wandering1667
wimpling1721
spiral1796
circumvolutory1834
wormy1869
twistering1872
twistified1872
twistical1890
the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [adjective] > specific cranial nerves
pathetic1681
pathetical1681
wandering1718
trigeminal1830
trifacial1840
oculomotor1861
vagal1885
oculimotor1890
oculimotory1890
oculogyric1922
statoacoustic1928
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 561 Others apart sat on a Hill retir'd, In thoughts more elevate,..And found no end, in wandring mazes lost. View more context for this quotation
1718 J. Chamberlayne tr. B. Nieuwentyt Relig. Philosopher I. ix. viii. 127 The Par-vagum, or Wandering-Nerve.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 1 Or by the lazy Scheld, or wandering Po.
1872 W. D. Howells Their Wedding Journey ix. 231 The wandering corridors.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xv. 138 A wandering, country by-track.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 812 The term ‘accessory’ was applied by this anatomist [Willis] to the special nerve which is accessory to the vagi or ‘wandering pair’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > polysemy > [noun] > word having several meanings
wandering namea1555
equivoque1599
multivocal1873
polysemant1873
polyseme1953
a1555 N. Ridley Treat. Transubst. (1556) 52 If in the wordes This is my bodye, the woorde (this) be as Dunse calleth it a wanderynge name, to appointe and shewe furthe anye one thinge whereof the name or nature it doeth not tell: so muste it bee lykewyse [etc.].
1659 W. Somner Dict. Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum Wudumerce, Ambrosia, Nectar, a wandring name given unto many severall herbes.
j. Having no fixed arrangement, scattered irregularly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > absence of arrangement > [adjective] > irregularly arranged
straggling1604
extravagant1608
scattering1610
squanderinga1616
scambling1702
scragglinga1722
wandering1785
straggly1862
straggled1884
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xiii. 138 The flowers are irregularly disposed, or wandering, as Linnæus calls them.
3. † a. Of persons, etc.: Deviating from the proper or determined course; figurative erring, disloyal. Obsolete.† c. Of places: Out-of-the-way, inaccessible, remote. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [adjective] > going astray
scrithingOE
sinister1526
aberrantc1536
strayed1544
straying1553
exorbitant1556
erroneous1595
wandering1606
devious1633
theat1682
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > [adjective] > straying or going astray
willa1325
wilsomea1375
errant14..
miswandering?a1425
straying1553
straggling1589
extravagant1604
wandering1606
roytish1648
erroneous1731
wildering1827
stray-running1914
1606 Bp. W. Barlow One of Foure Serm. Hampton Court B ij To heale the infected, to splint the spreined, to reduce the wandering.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. xxix. sig. N5v Wee dare not doe those things that are lawfull, lest the wandring World mis-construe them.
1637 J. Milton Comus 2 The nodding horror of whose shadie brows Threats the forlorne and wandring Passinger.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 404 Who shall tempt with wandring feet The dark unbottom'd infinite Abyss. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 584 Long hast thou known, nor need I to record The wanton sallies of my wand'ring Lord.
b. Of inanimate things: Straying from the right path.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > [adjective] > deviating from straight course > specifically of things
wandering1609
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxvi. sig. H O no, it is an euer fixed marke That lookes on tempests and is neuer shaken; It is the star to euery wandring barke.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 494 Imperial Juno turn'd the Course before; And fix'd the wand'ring Weapon in the door.
1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms iii. 8 Some wandering Ship who hath lost her way.
1899 J. Milne Romance of Pro-Consul (1911) x. 150 A wandering bullet plunged through the roof of the wooden cottage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adjective] > remote or inaccessible
outc1425
inaccessible?a1475
out-way1532
deviate1575
unaccessible1596
reachless1597
devious1599
wandering1600
untouchable1622
outlying1651
back1683
no-nationa1756
out-of-the-way1756
outlandish1792
eccentric1800
outworld1808
out-by1816
outside1847
off-lying1859
unget-at-able1862
far-out1887
far-back1900
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xvii. 110 Swans haunt and loue to resort to some particular places onely, as in watrie, wandring and solitarie places [Fr. lieux aquatiques, esgarez & solitaires].
d. Pathol. wandering spleen, wandering kidney, wandering liver: see quots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > glandular disorders > [noun] > disorders of spleen
elf-cake1579
ague cake1597
splenitis1753
lienitis1845
perisplenitis1881
wandering spleen1897
splenohepatomegaly1900
spleno-megaly1900
hypersplenism1914
hyposplenism1914
splenosis1939
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > glandular disorders > [noun] > disorders of kidneys > other kidney disorders
Bright's disease1830
pyelonephritis1839
nephropyosis1848
hydronephrosis1849
nephrocele1849
nephroplegy1857
pyonephrosis1867
suet affection1886
nephrosclerosis1890
nephroptosis1892
raspberry kidney1897
wandering kidney1897
hypernephroma1900
nephrosis1900
Wilms('s) or (erroneously) Wilm's tumour1910
nephrotic syndrome1931
glomerulosclerosis1936
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 584 The so-called ‘wandering spleen’ in which the viscus is found in the lower abdomen.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 518 A case of wandering spleen.
1899 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Wandering, moving from place to place. Wandering kidney, a synonym for floating kidney. Wandering liver.
e. Mining. (See quot. 1886) Cf. stray adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > [adjective] > types of deposit
veined1785
nodular1794
vein1822
wandering1886
warped1886
hypothermal1906
supergene1914
mesothermal1922
podiform1928
xenothermal1935
1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Sc. Mining Terms 70 Wandering coal, a coal seam that exists only over a small area; an irregular seam of coal.
4. Characterized by wandering.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [adjective] > with no fixed aim or wandering > inclined to or characterized by wandering
wancraunt1422
roving1566
runabout1573
wandering1582
vagrant1583
gaddy1637
outward-bound1743
gadabout1753
free-ranging1841
planeticose1849
knockabout1886
picaresque1959
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 60 To soyl of Cyclops with wandring iournye we roamed.
1603 S. Daniel Def. Ryme in Panegyrike (new ed.) sig. H6v There is no right in these things that are continually in a wandring motion, carried with the violence of our vncertaine likings.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 295 Thus to the listning Queen, the Royal Guest His wand'ring Course, and all his Toils express'd.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 131 This little wandring Journey, without settled Place of Abode, had been so unpleasant to me, that my own House..was a perfect Settlement to me.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1787) III. xxxi. 227 He experienced the adventures of an obscure and wandering life.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxxi. 122 A landless prince, whose wandering life Is but one scene of blood and strife.
1872 W. D. Howells Their Wedding Journey x. 282 The river..whose wandering loveliness the road follows.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay iii Paris is not a bad place to anchor in after a wandering life.
Derivatives
ˈwanderingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [adverb] > in wandering manner
wilsomelyc1420
erroneously1528
vagrantly1547
gaddingly1552
wanderingly1552
roamingly1621
rovingly1664
excursively1791
ramblingly1855
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > [adverb]
wanderingly1653
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Wandrynglye, palatim, passim.
1565 A. Golding in tr. Ovid Fyrst Fower Bks. Metamorphosis To Rdr. sig. *ijv And Pilgrims such as wandringly theyr tyme in trauell waste.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xiii. 7 Your shakes of fortune, though they hant you mortally Yet glaunce full wondringly on vs.
1653 Bp. J. Taylor Ενιαυτος: Course of Serm. i. iii. 32 Were thy prayers made in feare and holinesse, with passion and desire? Were they not made unwillingly, weakly, and wandringly.
1825 Blackwood's Mag. 18 437 His eyes Gleam'd wanderingly with brine unbidden.
1867 Ld. Tennyson Holy Grail 148 For when was Lancelot wanderingly lewd?
ˈwanderingness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > [noun] > state of
wanderingness1688
mooniness1852
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Ffff4/3 Wanderingness, distraction, egarement d'Esprit.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1300
adj.c1000