moving from place to place without a fixed plan; roaming; rambling: wandering tourists.
having no permanent residence; nomadic: a wandering tribe of Indians.
meandering; winding: a wandering river; a wandering path.
noun
an aimless roving about; leisurely traveling from place to place: a period of delightful wandering through Italy.
Usually wanderings.
aimless travels; meanderings: Her wanderings took her all over the world.
disordered thoughts or utterances; incoherencies: mental wanderings; the wanderings of delirium.
seemingly aimless or random movement or locomotion by a person with a mental disorder or cognitive impairment: Wandering by Alzheimer’s patients is a problem in nursing homes.See also elopement(def 2).
Origin of wandering
before 1000;Middle English (noun, adj.), Old Englishwandrigende (adj.). See wander, -ing2, -ing1
Related formswan·der·ing·ly, adverbwan·der·ing·ness, nounun·wan·der·ing, adjectiveun·wan·der·ing·ly, adverb
wander
[won-der]
verb (used without object)
to ramble without a definite purpose or objective; roam, rove, or stray: to wander over the earth.
to go aimlessly, indirectly, or casually; meander: The river wanders among the rocks.
to extend in an irregular course or direction: Foothills wandered off to the south.
to move, pass, or turn idly, as the hand or the eyes.
(of the mind, thoughts, desires, etc.) to take one direction or another without conscious intent or control: His attention wandered as the speaker droned on.
to stray from a path, place, companions, etc.: During the storm the ship wandered from its course.
to deviate in conduct, belief, etc.; err; go astray: Let me not wander from Thy Commandments.
to think or speak confusedly or incoherently.
(of a person with a mental disorder or cognitive impairment) to move about or walk in a seemingly aimless or random manner.
verb (used with object)
to travel about, on, or through: He wandered the streets.
noun
Mechanics. the drift of a gyroscope or a similar device.
Origin of wander
before 900;Middle Englishwandren,Old Englishwandrian (cognate with Germanwandern), frequentative of wendan to wend; see -er6
Related formswan·der·er, nounout·wan·der, verb (used with object)
Old English wandrian "move about aimlessly, wander," from West Germanic *wandrojan (cf. Old Frisian wondria, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch wanderen, German wandern "to wander," a variant form of the root represented in Old High German wantalon "to walk, wander"), from root *wend- "to turn" (see wind (v.)). In reference to the mind, affections, etc., attested from c.1400. Related: Wandered; wandering. The Wandering Jew of Christian legend first mentioned 13c. (cf. French le juif errant, German der ewige Jude).
