Where does “astray” come from?
Astray comes from Middle English astraien, meaning to stray or wander from the correct path.
astray (English): In a wrong or unknown and wrongly-motivated...
Definitions
- In a wrong or unknown and wrongly-motivated...
Ancestry of “astray”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | astraien | — |
| 2 | Old French | estraier | to wander; to roam |
| 3 | Latin | extravagari | to wander beyond |
| 4 | Latin | vagari | present active infinitive of vagor; to wander,... |
| 5 | Latin | vagus | wandering, rambling, strolling; uncertain, vague |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | wagos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | Hwogos | — |