▪ I. roam, n.
(rəʊm)
[f. the vb.]
The act of wandering or roaming; a ramble.
| 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 538 He..began Through wood, through waste, o'er hil, o'er dale his roam. 1685–8 Roxb. Ball. II. 447 My unkind husband hath taken his roam To see his relations. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 1173 The boundless space, thro' which these rovers take Their restless roam. 1755 Hervey Theron & Aspasia (1757) I. xi. 394 Too dreary even for the Roam of a hoary hermit. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude viii. 113 A half-hour's roam through such a place. |
▪ II. roam, v.
(rəʊm)
Forms: α. 4–5 romen, -yn, 4–7 rome, 5 rom, rombe, 6 roame, 6– roam. β. 4–6 rowme, 5 roume(n, 5, 7 roome.
[Of obscure origin: the rime with home in Gower indicates an early ME. rāmen (perh. represented by the obscure rameden in Laȝamon 7854), but no parallel form with the same meaning appears in any of the cognate languages.
Except in late puns, there is no evidence of connexion with the Romance words denoting pilgrims or pilgrimages to Rome (as OF. romier, Sp. romero, It. romeo, med.L. romeus), and the rime with home is decisive against this origin. The β-forms are probably due to scribal confusion with rowm room v. Douglas no doubt took over the word with this spelling from some manuscript of Chaucer.]
1. a. intr. To wander, rove, or ramble; to walk about aimlessly, esp. over a wide area.
| α 13.. K. Alis. 7207 Alisaunder rometh in his toun, For to wissen his masons. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 2372 (Kölbing), Þo he was cloþed, he com adoun, Sikeende & romende vp & doun. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 347 Whan he wot the lord from home, Than wol he stalke aboute and rome. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 3006 To walke and romen vp and doun In the forest. 1470–85 Malory Arthur viii. xi. 289 The quene..romed vp & doune in the chamber. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 141 Neither the slowe..nor the liuely, whyle they roame, bee seuered from their fellowes. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxviii. xiv, He made them waste their weary yeares Roaming in vain. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage iii. i. (1614) 228 Thus doe the Tartars and the Arabians..at this day, roming, rouing, robbing. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. i. 3 Round the wide World in Banishment we rome. 1754 Gray Progr. Poesy 55 Shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. (1787) III. 236 The Barbarians roamed through the city in quest of prey. 1818 Keats Endym. ii. 993 Where, 'mid exuberant green, I roam in pleasant darkness. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop i, In the summer I often roam about the fields and lanes all day. 1894 Baring-Gould Deserts S. France I. 1 The pastures..are roamed over by dun-coloured oxen. |
| fig. 1587 Greene Euphues Censure Wks. (Grosart) VI. 208 A valyaunt mynde, vnlesse guyded by wysedome, rometh into many inconsidered actions. 1640 W. Style tr. Antisco's Sp. Gallant 120 Suffering their thoughts to rome upon other matters. 1814 Cary Dante, Paradise x. 4 Wherever eye or mind Can roam. 1882 Ainger Lamb vi. 101 He was allowed to roam at his own free will over the experiences of his life. |
| β 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 109 Þe porter..plukked in pauci priueliche, and lete þe remenaunt go rowme. Ibid. 124 He may renne in arrerage And rowme so fro home. 1513 Douglas æneis v. xii. 62 He rowmis wp and doun the cost. Ibid. xii. Prol. 201 Thochtfull luffaris rowmys to and fro. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. iii. 36 Thei ware sterne, and vnruly..roilyng and rowmyng..heather and thether. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Epit. 368 They..had roomed about, without pittie pyllaging and dispeopling. |
b. Const. to, toward, thither, from (passing into the sense of ‘go, make one's way’).
| c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 508 He rometh to the Carpenteres hous. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 331 ‘By þe rode,’ quaþ repentaunce, ‘þow romest toward heuene’. c 1400 Destr. Troy 818 Iason..rapis hym to ryse & rom from his bede. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 51 Winch. Rome shall remedie this. Warw. Roame thither then. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 247 Three hundred thousand people romed to Rome for purgatorie pils. 1631 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. (1640) 235 So ravished in Spirit, he roamed toward Heaven. 1636 R. James Iter Lanc. 40 We did rome Under thy guidance to a Roman way..From Yorck to Chester. |
2. trans. To wander over or through (a place).
| 1603 Philotus xxv, Be ȝe haue rowmit ane Alley thryse, It is ane myle almaist. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 82 Thus the Orb he roam'd With narrow search. 1671 ― P.R. ii. 179 False titl'd Sons of God, roaming the Earth. 1790 Cowper Odyss. xviii. 2 A man Accustomed..to roam the streets Of Ithaca. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms iii. 411 Happy as they that roam the Ocean's breast. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 312 The last wolf that has roamed our island. 1875 Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome lxxv. (1877) 624 A mighty horde of savages roaming a continent in search of food. |
† 3. ? To carry off in roaming. Obs.—1
| 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. i. (1656) 127 Many a sweet meal hath he [Satan] robbed the Saints of..: take heed therefore that he roams not thine away also. |
4. trans. To cause (the eyes) to look over a scene. rare.
| 1900 J. Bloundelle-Burton Seafarers xii. 118 As he spoke he roamed his eye around the tranquil, glassy sea. |
▸ intr. Telecomm. Of a mobile phone or its user: (originally) to access different cells in a cellular telephone system, esp. whilst moving; (now) spec. to access another operator's network while in an area where the network subscribed to is unavailable. Cf. roaming n.
| 1982 Business Week 1 Mar. 57/2 These low-powered radios are linked by a computer system that tracks the mobile phone units roaming among the cells and switches calls from cell to cell so that there is never any break in communications. 1995 Managerial & Decision Econ. 16 453/1 A mobile cellular user who roams from one cell into another is detected by the system's control electronics and his or her mobile terminal is automatically directed to switch to frequencies used by the new cell. 1996 Times 13 Nov. (Interface Suppl.) 8/3 Multi-standard phones will also make it much easier to roam between systems in search of the best signal or the cheapest price. 2004 Webactive 14 Oct. 11/2 Orange now allows Pay As You Go mobile phone customers to roam in the US. |