A.Word.A.Day --peripatetic

A.Word.A.Day --peripatetic

peripatetic

PRONUNCIATION:
(per-uh-puh-TET-ik)
MEANING:
adjective:
1. Moving or traveling from place to place.
2. Of or related to walking, moving, or traveling.
3. Of or related to Aristotle: his philosophy or his teaching method of conducting discussions while walking about.
noun:
1. An itinerant
2. A follower of Aristotle.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin peripateticus, from Greek peripatetikos, from peripatein (to walk about, to discourse while pacing as did Aristotle), from peri- (around) + patein (to walk). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pent- (to tread) that also gave us words such as English find, Dutch pad (path), Hindi path (path), French pont (bridge), and Russian sputnik (traveling companion).

USAGE:
"With his back to goal in a crowded space, the peripatetic Frenchman [Nicolas Anelka] deftly chipped the ball over his shoulder, and into the net for the equalizer."
Rob Hughes; Michel Platini Set to Make Plea to Cut Influence of Money in UEFA; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France); Feb 15, 2009.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction. -Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953)