Perambulator

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wheeled carriage for transporting infants and small children, pushed by a person walking behind or beside it
2. A wheeled vehicle designed for transporting infants and young children while being propelled by hand
3. A four-wheeled pushed conveyance used to carry babies and small children during outdoor excursions

Etymology: The pram's formal name is a little more ambitious than its function. "Perambulator" is built from "perambulate," which comes from Latin "perambulare," meaning "to walk through" or "to walk about." Its parts are "per," meaning "through" or "throughout," and "ambulare," "to walk," so the word literally describes walking across a territory. The "-or" ending comes from the Latin agent suffix "-tor," which passed through Old French and into Middle English as "-our" before settling into the modern spelling. That suffix marks a thing that performs an action, so a perambulator is, quite literally, a walker-through. Early English uses of "perambulate" meant surveying or inspecting boundaries on foot, the sense that also gave the word its older legal and parish associations. Applying the word to a baby carriage is a later extension: the vehicle is the thing that carries a child while someone walks it along. The shortened form "pram" appeared in British usage later, and it is now the more common word in everyday speech.

Synonyms: stroller, baby carriage, pram, pushchair, cart