perambulation means A survey, a tour; an instance of walking around.
Why “perambulation” is a great word
The act of walking around, especially in a formal inspection or a leisurely stroll. From Middle English perambulacioun, from Anglo-Norman and Medieval Latin perambulatio, from Latin perambulatus, past participle of perambulare ("to walk through, traverse"), from per- ("through") + ambulare ("to walk"). Unlike "peregrination" (which implies an arduous, purposeful journey to foreign lands) or a "stroll" (which suggests an aimless, casual amble), perambulation is a measured traversal, either of official duty or deliberate leisure. It is the surveyor’s gait along a parish boundary, the magistrate’s circuit beneath chestnut arches, the conscious navigation of familiar city blocks at twilight—a ritual of re-knowing one’s own territory, step by deliberate step.
Etymology
From Middle English perambulacioun, from Anglo-Norman and Latin. By surface analysis, perambulate + -ation, or, by surface analysis, per- + ambulate + -ion.
noun
- A survey, a tour; an instance of walking around.
- An English legal ceremony in which an official from a town or parish walks around it to delineate and record its boundaries.e.g.“1902, Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, published by the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
Another forest not named in the perambulation is that of Horwich.”
- The district thus inspected.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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