roam

English

Etymology

From Middle English romen, from Old English *rāmian, from Proto-Germanic *raimōną (to wander), from *raim- (to move, raise), from *h₃reyH- (to move, lift, flow). Akin to Old English ārǣman (to arise, stand up, lift up), Old High German rāmēn (to aim)[1] ( > archaic German rahmen (to strive)), Middle Dutch rammen (to night-wander, to copulate), rammelen (to wander about, ramble). More at ramble.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rōm, IPA(key): /ɹəʊm/
  • (General American) enPR: rōm, IPA(key): /ɹoʊm/
  • (file)
  • Homophones: Rome
  • Rhymes: -əʊm

Verb

roam (third-person singular simple present roams, present participle roaming, simple past and past participle roamed)

  1. (intransitive) To wander or travel freely and with no specific destination.
    • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille (in The Guardian, 26 November 2013)
      Wilshere had started as a left-footed right-winger, coming in off the flank, but he and Özil both had the licence to roam. Tomas Rosicky was not tied down to one spot either and, with Ramsey breaking forward as well as Olivier Giroud's considerable presence, Marseille were overwhelmed from the moment Bacary Sagna's first touch of the night sent Wilshere running clear.
  2. (intransitive, computing, telecommunications) To use a network or service from different locations or devices.
  3. (transitive) To range or wander over.
    • John Milton
      And now wild beasts came forth the woods to roam.
    • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
      According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
    Gangs of thugs roamed the streets.

Synonyms

Translations

References

  1. roam in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams


Portuguese

Verb

roam

  1. third-person plural present subjunctive of roer
  2. third-person plural imperative of roer
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