divagate

American  

[dahy-vuh-geyt] / ˈdaɪ vəˌgeɪt /

verb (used without object)

divagated, divagating

1. to wander; stray.

2. to digress in speech.

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divagate British  

/ ˈdaɪvəˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. rare (intr) to digress or wander

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Other Word Forms

• divagation noun

Etymology

Origin of divagate

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin dīvagātus (past participle of dīvagārī “to wander off”), equivalent to dī- di- ² + vag- (stem of vagārī “to wander”) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

If it can be done in prose - that is the puzzle - I divagate again.

From Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 2 by Stevenson, Robert Louis

So does a child's balloon divagate upon the currents of the air, and touch and slide off again from every obstacle.

From A Book of English Prose Part II, Arranged for Secondary and High Schools by Lubbock, Percy

So does a child's balloon divagate upon the currents of the air, and touch, and slide off again from every obstacle.

From Across the Plains by Stevenson, Robert Louis

So does a child’s balloon divagate upon the currents of the air, and touch and slide off again from every obstacle.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 16 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

And the upshot is that the theistic determinist is never merciful, whereas the rational determinist is at least under a logical compulsion to be so, however he may resist or divagate.

From Rationalism by Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)