wander

Etymology

From Middle English wandren, wandrien, from Old English wandrian (“to wander, roam, fly around, hover; change; stray, err”), from Proto-Germanic *wandrōną (“to wander”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind”), equivalent to wend + -er. Cognate with Scots wander (“to wander”), German wandern (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Dutch wandelen (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Danish vandre (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Swedish vandra (“to wander, hike”).

verb

1. (intransitive) To move without purpose or specified destination; often in search of livelihood.
   to wander over the fields
2. (intransitive) To stray; stray from one's course; err.
   A writer wanders from his subject.
3. (intransitive) To commit adultery.
4. (intransitive) To go somewhere indirectly or at varying speeds; to move in a curved path.
5. (intransitive) Of the mind, to lose focus or clarity of argument or attention.

noun

1. (countable) An act or instance of wandering.
   to go for a wander in the park
2. (uncountable) The situation where a value or signal etc. deviates from the correct or normal value.
   baseline wander in ECG signals