divagate

English

Etymology

First attested in 1599; borrowed from Latin dīvagātus, perfect active participle of dīvagor (“to wander here and there”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dis- (“in different direction”) + vagor (“to wander”). Cognate with French divaguer.

Pronunciation

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Verb

divagate (third-person singular simple present divagates, present participle divagating, simple past and past participle divagated)

1. (intransitive) To wander about.
2. (intransitive) To stray from a subject or theme.
   • 2010, Noah McLaughlin, French War Films and National Identity, page 51:

     The fallen guillotine blade is replaced with a call to awareness that, as we have seen, divagates from Szpiner's "Ayez pitié des enfants."

Related terms

• divagation

Translations

stray from a subject

Bulgarian: отклонявам се (otklonjavam se), лутам се (lutam se)

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

divagate

1. inflection of divagare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

divagate f pl

1. feminine plural of divagato

Latin

Participle

dīvagāte

1. vocative masculine singular of dīvagātus

Spanish

Verb

divagate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of divagar combined with te