amble
pronunciation
How to pronounce amble in British English:
UK [ˈæmbl]
How to pronounce amble in American English:
US [ˈæmbəl]
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- Noun:
- a leisurely walk (usually in some public place)
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- Verb:
- walk leisurely
Word Origin
- amble
- amble: [14] The ultimate source of amble (and of perambulator [17], and thus of its abbreviation pram [19]) is the Latin verb ambulāre ‘walk’. This was a compound verb, formed from the prefix ambi- (as in AMBIDEXTROUS) and the base *el- ‘go’, which also lies behind exile and alacrity [15] (from Latin alacer ‘lively, eager’, a compound of the base *el- and ācer ‘sharp’ – source of English acid).Latin ambulāre developed into Provençal amblar, which eventually reached English via Old French ambler. At first the English word was used for referring to a particular (leisurely) gait of a horse, and it was not until the end of the 16th century that it began to be used of people.=> acid, alacrity, exile, perambulator
- amble (v.)
- early 14c., from Old French ambler "walk as a horse does," from Latin ambulare "to walk, to go about, take a walk," perhaps a compound of ambi- "around" (see ambi-) and -ulare, from PIE root *el- "to go" (cognates: Greek ale "wandering," alaomai "wander about;" Latvian aluot "go around or astray"). Until 1590s used only of horses or persons on horseback. Related: Ambled; ambling. As a noun, from late 14c.
Example
- 1. Office workers , families and schoolchildren amble past .
- 2. Every evening , they amble along the bank .
- 3. He was coming along at an amble .
- 4. The horse is walking at an amble .
- 5. Amble he came ambling down the road .