Estrayed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Having deviated from the intended path or direction
2. Being lost or misplaced in terms of thoughts or behaviors
3. Having wandered away from the correct route or expected position

Etymology: "Estrayed" is the past tense and past participle of "estray," a verb meaning to wander off or stray from the proper course. The verb "estray" came into Middle English as "astrai," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "estray," which in turn came from the Old French verb "estraier." The Old French word is the source of the modern English "stray," so the two are doublets: separate descendants of one root that reached English by different routes. The distinction is one of time and social setting. "Stray" survived as an ordinary everyday word, while "estray" was kept in legal and agricultural language, where it referred to livestock found wandering without an owner. The variant preserved that older, more formal flavour, which is why "estray" still reads as archaic or specialised today.

Synonyms: lost, wandered

Antonyms: found, located