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

See Examples For:

divagate divagated divagating

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

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

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

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 24 (of 25) 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 Across the Plains by Stevenson, Robert Louis

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

Nine columns blindly zigzagged and divagated to false scents and imperfect information in chase of one man encumbered with a civil government on the run and several hundred wagons.

From A Handbook of the Boer War With General Map of South Africa and 18 Sketch Maps and Plans by

Owen's thoughts divagated suddenly, and he thought of the pain Harding would experience were he suddenly flung into Bohemian society.

From Sister Teresa by Moore, George (George Augustus)

Sometimes, indeed, it has been shy of it, and has divagated from it in wide circles; but, as soon as it becomes profound and humble again, it always returns.

From The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion by Stalker, James

The rural afternoon, especially, when he smoked and grubbed and divagated as he pleased, was alone enough to make the five-and-twenty years of "swink" worth while.

From The Testing of Diana Mallory by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

For a set scheduled to start at 10, the singer, who had spent much of the day divagating about what to wear onstage, appeared around midnight.

From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2010

"Egoism is merely another name for the expression of a vital need," he said, after the divagating pause, defining the word more for his own satisfaction than in self-defense.

From The City of Numbered Days by Lynde, Francis

We continued the subject, divagating as we went, and had a nice little sentimental conversation.

From Simon the Jester by Locke, William John

And to this her curriculum recurred whether it had been divagating into history, geography, astronomy, English composition, or religious knowledge.

From The Adventures of Harry Revel by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir