English
ambulate
Ambulate comes from Latin ambulō ‘to walk, go about’, from *alō ‘to feed, to nourish, to nurture’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elh₂- ‘to wander, roam’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂elh₂-1‘to wander, roam’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alō1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*alō1‘to feed, to nourish, to nurture’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambulō1‘to walk, go about’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambulātus1past participle of ambulō
- Englishearliest quotation 1990ambulate1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English ambulate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1990, Margy Dowzer, Disability And Accessibility Cost Money!: “I'm working in social services, but I'm also suffering…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂elh₂-Wiktionary, English ambulate‘to wander, roam’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alōWiktionary, English ambulatereconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*alōWiktionary, English ambulate‘to feed, to nourish, to nurture’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambulōWiktionary, English ambulate‘to walk, go about’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEambulātusWiktionary, English ambulatepast participle of ambulō
- Englishearliest quotation 1990ambulateWiktionary, English ambulate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1990, Margy Dowzer, Disability And Accessibility Cost Money!: “I'm working in social services, but I'm also suffering…”
Linked words
through Latin *alō ‘to feed, to nourish, to nurture’
through Latin ambulō ‘to walk, go about’
Today it means
verb To walk; to relocate oneself under the power of one's own legs.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ambulate”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂elh₂- / ambulate