roam
[ rohm ]
/ roʊm /
verb (used without object)
to walk, go, or travel without a fixed purpose or direction; ramble; wander; rove: to roam about the world.
verb (used with object)
to wander over or through: to roam the countryside.
noun
an act or instance of roaming; a ramble.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
trek, traipse, ramble, stray, drift, prowl, tramp, meander, saunter, stroll, traverse, gallivant, hike, travel, peregrinate, walk, range, rove, bum, vagabond
Nearby words
- roadster,
- roadway,
- roadwork,
- roadworks,
- roadworthy,
- roaming,
- roan,
- roanoke,
- roanoke island,
- roanoke rapids
Origin of roam
1300–50; Middle English romen < ?
SYNONYMS FOR roam
1. stray, stroll, prowl. Roam, ramble, range, rove imply wandering about over (usually) a considerable amount of territory. Roam implies a wandering or traveling over a large area, especially as prompted by restlessness or curiosity: to roam through a forest. Ramble implies pleasant, carefree moving about, walking with no specific purpose and for a limited distance: to ramble through fields near home. Range usually implies wandering over a more or less defined but extensive area in search of something: Cattle range over the plains. Rove sometimes implies wandering with specific incentive or aim, as an animal for prey: Bandits rove through these mountains.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for roam
roam
/ (rəʊm) /
verb
to travel or walk about with no fixed purpose or direction; wander
noun
the act of roaming
Word Origin for roam
C13: origin unknown
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
roam
c.1300, romen, possibly from Old English *ramian "act of wandering about," which is probably related to aræman "arise, lift up." There are no certain cognate forms in other Germanic languages, but Barnhart points to Old Norse reimuðr "act of wandering about," reimast "to haunt." "Except in late puns, there is no evidence of connexion with the Romance words denoting pilgrims or pilgrimages to Rome ...." [OED], such as Spanish romero "a pilot-fish; a pilgrim;" Old French romier "travelling as a pilgrim; a pilgrim," from Medieval Latin romerius "a pilgrim" (originally to Rome). Related: Roamed; roamer; roaming.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper