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• peripatetic
  peripatetic

  adjective

  walking or traveling about; itinerant.
• Peripatetic
  Peripatetic

  adjective

  of or relating to the teachings of Aristotle, who used to teach philosophy while walking about the Lyceum in ancient Athens

peripatetic

American  

[per-uh-puh-tet-ik] / ˌpɛr ə pəˈtɛt ɪk /

adjective

1. walking or traveling about; itinerant.

   Synonyms:

   vagrant, roving, wandering

2. (initial capital letter) of or relating to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

3. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Aristotelian school of philosophy.

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noun

1. a person who walks or travels about.

2. (initial capital letter) a member of the Aristotelian school.

peripatetic ¹ British  

/ ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk /

adjective

1. itinerant

2. employed in two or more educational establishments and travelling from one to another

   a peripatetic football coach

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noun

1. a peripatetic person

Peripatetic ² British  

/ ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the teachings of Aristotle, who used to teach philosophy while walking about the Lyceum in ancient Athens

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noun

1. a student of Aristotelianism

Other Word Forms

• peripatetically
  adverb
• peripateticism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of peripatetic

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin peripatēticus < Greek peripatētikós of Aristotle and his school, literally, walking about, equivalent to peripatē- (verbid stem of peripateîn to walk about, equivalent to peri- peri- + pateîn to walk; akin to path ) + -tikos -tic

Explanation

If you're reading this on a treadmill or while taking a walk, you may know about the peripatetic, or walking, philosopher Aristotle, who taught while strolling with his students. Or, maybe you just like being a peripatetic, a walking wanderer. Peri- is the Greek word for "around," and peripatetic is an adjective that describes someone who likes to walk or travel around. Peripatetic is also a noun for a person who travels from one place to another or moves around a lot. If you walk in a circle, you are peripatetic, or walking, but you aren’t a peripatetic, or wanderer, unless you actually go somewhere.

Example Sentences

Over the course of her long and peripatetic life, Carrington never stopped creating, producing hundreds—possibly thousands—of paintings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025

Far from it: Nadel, a museum curator and comics expert, expresses palpable admiration for Crumb, and sympathy for a peripatetic upbringing that could quietly be as macabre as anything he drew.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025

Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, in 1930 and led a peripatetic childhood.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2025

According to Elaine Godfrey of the Atlantic, that relationship is the one "throughline" in her politically peripatetic career.

From Salon • Jan. 27, 2025

Like Gilbert, Galileo practised what he preached, and it was the peripatetic approach that was blown apart by his work in Italy late in the sixteenth century and early in the seventeenth century.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Related Words

• itinerant
• nomadic
• roving