Etymology From Middle English romen, from Old English rāmian, from Proto-Germanic *raimōną (“to wander”), from *raim- (“to move, raise”), from *h₃reyH- (“to move, lift, flow”). Akin to Old English ārǣman (“to arise, stand up, lift up”), Old High German rāmēn (“to aim”) ( > archaic German rahmen (“to strive”)), Middle Dutch rammen (“to night-wander, to copulate”), rammelen (“to wander about, ramble”). More at ramble.
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To wander or travel freely and with no specific destination.
Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam, My blessing, like a line of light, Is on the waters day and night, And like a beacon guards thee home.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 28:
Oh, never will I roam / Now I know my place is home / Where the ocean meets the sky / I'll be sailin'1986, Marc Jordan, John Capek, “Rhythm of My Heart”, in Vagabond Heart, performed by Rod Stewart, published 1991:
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Wilshere had started as a left-footed right-winger, coming in off the flank, but he and Özil both had the licence to roam. Tomas Rosicky was not tied down to one spot either and, with Ramsey breaking forward as well as Olivier Giroud's considerable presence, Marseille were overwhelmed from the moment Bacary Sagna's first touch of the night sent Wilshere running clear.2013 November 26, Daniel Taylor, “Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 Dec 2021:
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To range or wander over.
Gangs of thugs roamed the streets.
And now wild beasts came forth the woods to roam.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
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According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them.2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
At first, it seemed counterintuitive to me to roam settings between computers, but my problem at the time was that every example I was considering was a setting that only made sense for a single computer.2013, Scott Isaacs, Kyle Burns, Beginning Windows Store Application Development:
Etymology From Middle English romen, from Old English rāmian, from Proto-Germanic *raimōną (“to wander”), from *raim- (“to move, raise”), from *h₃reyH- (“to move, lift, flow”). Akin to Old English ārǣman (“to arise, stand up, lift up”), Old High German rāmēn (“to aim”) ( > archaic German rahmen (“to strive”)), Middle Dutch rammen (“to night-wander, to copulate”), rammelen (“to wander about, ramble”). More at ramble.
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The act of roaming; a wander; a travel without aim or destination
Glass in hand, he set off on a roam of the first floor.2017, Rick Maloy, Evenings and Mournings: