perambulator (n.)
1610s, "one who perambulates," agent noun in Latin form from perambulate. From 1680s as "instrument for measuring distances traveled." Sense of "small three- or four-wheeled baby carriage" is attested by 1856; often colloquially shortened to pram.
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"walk through, about, or over," 1560s, from Latin perambulatus, past participle of perambulare "to walk through, go through, ramble through," from per "through" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + ambulare "to walk, go about" (see amble (v.)). Related: Perambulated; perambulating.
"baby carriage," 1881, a colloquial shortening of perambulator, perhaps influenced by pram "flat-bottomed boat" (1540s), especially a type used in Baltic ports for loading and unloading merchant vessels, from Old Norse pramr, from Balto-Slavic (compare Polish prom, Russian poromu "ferryboat," Czech pram "raft"), from PIE *pro-, from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, toward, through."
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updated on March 24, 2020
Dictionary entries near perambulator
per se
per stirpes
peradventure
perambulate
perambulation
perambulator
percale
perceivable
perceive
percent
percentage