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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Walking about or from place to place; traveling on foot.
  2. adj. Of or relating to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.
  3. n. One who walks from place to place; an itinerant.
  4. n. A follower of the philosophy of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Walking about; itinerant.
  2. [capitalized] Of or pertaining to Aristotle's system of philosophy, or the sect of his followers; Aristotelian: as, the Peripatetic philosophers.
  3. n. One who walks about; an itinerant; a pedestrian.
  4. n. [capitalized] A follower of Aristotle(384-322 b. c.), a great Greek philosopher. In the middle ages the word was often used to signify a logician. See Aristotelianism.
  5. n. plural Instruction after the manner of Aristotle; instruction by lectures.
  6. n. plural Journeyings here and there; a continual going to and fro.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. tending to walk about
  2. adj. constantly travelling; itinerant; nomadic.
  3. adj. Having to do with Aristotle, his philosophy, or the school of thought which he founded.
  4. n. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant.
  5. n. One who accepts the philosophy of Aristotle or his school; an Aristotelian.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Walking about; itinerant.
  2. adj. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while walking in the Lyceum at Athens), or to his followers.
  3. n. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant.
  4. n. A disciple of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a person who walks from place to place
  2. adj. of or relating to Aristotle or his philosophy
  3. n. a follower of Aristotle or an adherent of Aristotelianism
  4. adj. traveling especially on foot

Etymologies

  1. Middle English peripatetik, from Latin peripatēticus, from Greek peripatētikos, from peripatein, to walk about, or from peripatos, covered walk (where Aristotle allegedly lectured) : peri-, peri- + patein, to walk; see pent- in Indo-European roots.

Examples

  • “That afternoon we were on the march in what Denham called our peripatetic hospital; but he was not happy.”

    Charge! A Story of Briton and Boer

  • “Henry Parecki might best be described as a peripatetic entrepreneur.”

    SFGate: Top News Stories

  • “From my own experience of reading parties, I should select as their peculiar characteristics, a tendency to hats and caps of such remarkable shapes, as, if once sported in the college quadrangle, would be the subject of a common-room _instanter_; and, among some individuals (whom we may call the peripatetic philosophers of the party) a predilection for seedy shooting-coats and short pipes, with which they perambulate the neighbourhood to the marvel of the aboriginal inhabitants; while those whom we may class with the stoics, display a preference for dressing-gowns and meerschaums, and confine themselves principally to the doorways and open windows of their respective lodgings.”

    Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 54, No. 334, August 1843

  • “Brooks managed to squeeze 'peripatetic', 'equanimity', 'homeostasis', 'sojourner', 'grandiloquent' and 'didactic' into the brief 850 word article on the inner workings of Obama's mind, exposing a fragile psyche of his own, and a desperate need to validate his position as a national talking head.”

    Ben Cohen: David Brooks and Big Words

  • “Oddly, it's insanely comfortable, and this kind of peripatetic lifestyle (while anathema to my wife) totally fits my A.D.D. quest for constant adventure.”

    lucy van pelt holds the football

  • “This Platonic propaganda (directed vigorously against the "peripatetic" restoration and the anti-Platonic attacks of the neo-Aristotelean school) had an echo in”

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize

  • “For this purpose Patrick established a kind of peripatetic school.”

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize

  • “The goal is to learn through the process of becoming a "peripatetic" institution moving from city to city in two-year increments.”

    The Art Newspaper - RSS

  • “These roots occur in many English words, such as peripatetic and amphitheater.”

    Laudator Temporis Acti

  • “peripatetic" was right, but no space was left for the right number of leads.”

    The Little Gold Miners of the Sierras and Other Stories

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Comments

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  • nahiku888 this is one word that never sounds like what it means - it sounds like it should mean something else.- like parrot pathetic. Jun 17, 2009

  • seanahan So I was at Buffalo Wild Wings, and we were playing the trivia game, which was called Lexitopia, where you had to pick the correct meaning of a word from 4 choices. This is a great game for Wordies, and I got every question correct, expect for the definition of this word. Now, of course, I will never forget it, but it irks me to this day. May 2, 2009

  • quotato Modern peripatetic:

    a person who surfs from webpage to webpage May 2, 2009

  • CJ2A I think there is a sense of "wandering" and "wanderlust" not necessarily related to travel on foot. Apr 13, 2009

  • tbtabby What if someone comes along and calls us "a pair o' pathetic peripatetics?" Mar 17, 2009

  • corylusavellana I used to have a sworn enemy (get one, they're fun) called Perry... so peripatetic always made me giggle. Dec 22, 2008

  • aequoria Walking about. Relating to the philosophy of Aristotle, who, while expounding it, moved from place to place in order to avoid his pupil's objections. A needless precaution -- they knew no more of the matter than he.

    ~Devil's Dictionary Dec 7, 2008

  • Prolagus In Italian, this word is quite in use as a synonym for "prostitute". Jun 15, 2008

‘peripatetic’ has been looked up 4237 times, loved by 23 people, added to 215 lists, commented on 8 times, and has a Scrabble score of 17.