Ambulate
/ˈæm.bjʊ.leɪt/noun
To walk or move about on foot.
Did you know?“Ambulate” comes from the same Indo-European root that gave us Latin ambulare, and that root also lives on in words like “amble” and “ambulance,” originally a hospital that moved with armies.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂el-
“to go, wander”
Latin
Latin
ambulāre
“to walk, go about”
Late Latin
Latin
ambulātio
“a walking, walking about”
Middle English
English
ambulen
“to walk, move about”
15th-16th Century
English
ambulate
“to walk, especially in a formal or medical sense”
Modern English
English
ambulate
“to walk or move about on foot”
Explore more surprising origins