Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme for word nerds who care enough to look up words they don’t know. Join Kathy at Bermuda Onion to learn more new and interesting words.
My word today comes from the YA contemporary Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson. Emily’s best friend Sloane has mysteriously disappeared at the beginning of the summer. The only thing Sloane left behind for Em is one of her crazy “to do” lists, which includes items like:
- Kiss a stranger
- Go skinny-dipping
- Steal something
- Break something
- Dance until dawn
- Hug a Jamie
Since You’ve Been Gone is a fun read about getting out of your comfort zone and learning to take chances. Here’s the word nerd word:
Sloane and her parents lived the kind of peripatetic existence- picking up and moving when they felt like it, or when they just wanted a new adventure- that I’d seen in movies, but hadn’t known actually existed in real life.
peripatetic \ˌper-ə-pə-ˈte-tik\ adjective from Greek peripatein to walk up and down, discourse while pacing (as did Aristotle), from peri- + patein to tread
- related to walking
- moving or traveling from place to place
Example:
Maria lived a peripatetic life after graduation, selling kids books while seeing many different parts of the country.
Note: Peripatetic can also mean “Aristotlean”, as Aristotle reportedly paced a lot.
Word Nerd Workout
Suggest a synonym for peripatetic. Mine: itinerant.
Thanks for “playing”!
We used to live a somewhat peripatetic life but I think we’ll be staying put from now on. My synonym is migratory.
This is one of those words where I can never remember the meaning no matter how many times I look it up! I know peri- means “around.” Periscope. Perimeter. But I never know what to do with the rest of the word! Patetic. It just won’t stick!
Can you relate pate to feet or walking? I think that’s the link. But I know what you mean. 😉
I’m with Dianne – I always want to remember these words and they take peripatetic exit right out of my brain. Um. Does that work?