divagate

[ dahy-vuh-geyt ]

/ ˈdaɪ vəˌgeɪt /

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See synonyms for: divagate / divagation on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), di·va·gat·ed, di·va·gat·ing.

to wander; stray.

to digress in speech.

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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 -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM divagate

di·va·ga·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use divagate in a sentence

The expansion of criticism in the same thirty years was not a whit less marked than the vast divagation of the novel.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6|Various
He had an unconquerable and sometimes very irritating habit of digression, of divagation, of aside.
A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895)|George Saintsbury
They are not very easy to select from, for their author's singular tendency to divagation affects them.
A Letter Book|George Saintsbury
Yet it is this very divagation that is called reason, wisdom, morality.
Philosophic Nights In Paris|Remy De Gourmont

In his finest passages, as in his most trivial, he is at the mercy of the will-o'-the-wisp of divagation.
Essays in English Literature, 1780-1860|George Saintsbury

British Dictionary definitions for divagate

divagate

/ (ˈdaɪvəˌɡeɪt) /

verb

(intr) rare to digress or wander

Derived forms of divagate

divagation, noun

Word Origin for divagate

C16: from Latin di- ² + vagārī to wander

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

divagate

Origin of divagate

OTHER WORDS FROM divagate

Words related to divagate

How to use divagate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for divagate

Derived forms of divagate

Word Origin for divagate