Perambulacioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of travelling on foot through or around a place ; a formal walk along a parish or district boundary to inspect and record its limits
2. Walking about or moving through an area on foot ; an official tour that surveys and marks the edges of a parish or town
3. A journey on foot across or around a region ; a traditional ceremonial inspection of the bounds of a parish to confirm its limits

Etymology: Before it meant a stroll, "perambulacioun" was a legal procedure: a formal walk around the boundaries of a forest or parish to fix them in memory and record. Officials and local men followed the line on foot, marking the landmarks as they went. The walk was the survey itself, so the word's sense stayed tied to the act of going along the edges of a place. The word comes from Latin "perambulatio", a noun from "perambulare", meaning "to walk through or about". That verb combines "per", "through", with "ambulare", "to walk". English "amble" descends from the same "ambulare", by way of Old French "ambler", which is why a relaxed horse's gait and a formal boundary walk share a root. Later English formed "perambulator" from the same stem, a term that came to name the wheeled baby carriage pushed along by a walking adult.