ramble

English

Etymology

An altered form (with dissimilation of mm to mb) of dial. rammle, from Middle English *ramelen, frequentative of ramen (“to roam, ramble”); compare Old Swedish rambla (“to make a noise”), Danish ramle (“to stumble; collapse; thunder; boom”); see roam.

"mid-15 c., perhaps frequentative of 'romen' 'to walk, go' perhaps via 'romblen' (late 14 c.) 'to ramble.' The vowel change perhaps by influence of Middle Dutch 'rammelen,' a derivative of 'rammen' 'copulate,' 'used of the night wanderings of the amorous cat.' Meaning 'to talk or write incoherently' is from 1630's" (etymonline.com).

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -æmbəl

Noun

ramble (plural rambles)

  1. A leisurely stroll; a recreational walk in the countryside.
    • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 16
      Marianne was prevailed upon to join her sisters in their usual walk, instead of wandering away by herself. Hitherto she had carefully avoided every companion in her rambles. If her sisters intended to walk on the downs, she directly stole away towards the lanes
    • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 138:
      The place was a favourite with all, and the ramble in this quarter was quite a regular custom of the afternoon with the fair heiress of Colonel Walton in particular.
  2. A rambling; an instance of someone talking at length without direction.
  3. (mining) A bed of shale over the seam of coal.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Raymond to this entry?)
  4. A section of woodland suitable for leisurely walking.

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Verb

ramble (third-person singular simple present rambles, present participle rambling, simple past and past participle rambled)

  1. To move about aimlessly, or on a winding course
  2. To walk for pleasure; to amble or saunter.
  3. To talk or write incessantly, unclearly, or incoherently, with many digressions.
    Francine has a tendency to ramble when it gets to be late in the evening.

Synonyms

  • (talk or write unclearly, or incoherently): drivel, sperg

Translations

Further reading

  • ramble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • ramble in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • ramble at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

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