perambulation
- noun
- /ˌpɛrəmˈbjuːleɪʃən/
- Archaic
- During the annual perambulation, the council members walked the borders to confirm the territory's limits.
Examples
-
Teacher and student would also take longer and more formal perambulations during which Claude would fill the Abbe's noterolls with observations on newly discovered phenomena.
Fiction book (1992) -
Perambulation.
Fiction book (2001) -
The perambulation of the manor was conducted to ensure that all boundaries were correctly marked and acknowledged.
-
As part of their duties, the officials undertook a perambulation to officially record the boundaries of the parish.
Antonyms
How Official
Surface Forms
Morphology
perambulation = perambulate (semi-transparent) = perambulate + ion
Formed from 'perambulate' + '-ion', but the sense 'official walk around boundaries' is a specialized/legal usage not obvious to most learners.
Etymology
Perambulation comes from the old Latin parts per- 'through' and ambulare 'to walk', the same root you see in amble. In earlier times officials would walk 'through' the edges of a parish or manor to check and write down the borders, which is why perambulation can mean an official walk around an area's boundaries.