different between trail vs roam

English

Etymology

From Middle English trailen, from Old French trailler (“to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry”), from Vulgar Latin *tragul?re (“to drag”), from Latin tragula (“dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap”), probably related to Latin trahere (“to pull, drag along”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: tr?l, IPA^(key): /t?e?l/
• Rhymes: -e?l

Verb

trail (third-person singular simple present trails, present participle trailing, simple past and past participle trailed)

1. (transitive) To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).

2. (transitive) To drag (something) behind on the ground.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1

     "I saw your brother—I saw your brother," he said, nodding his head, as Archer lagged past him, trailing his spade, and scowling at the old gentleman in spectacles.

3. (transitive) To leave (a trail of).

4. (transitive) To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication.

5. (intransitive) To hang or drag loosely behind; to move with a slow sweeping motion.

   The bride's long dress trailed behind her as she walked down the aisle.
6. (intransitive) To run or climb like certain plants.
7. (intransitive) To drag oneself lazily or reluctantly along.

   Our parents marched to church and we trailed behind.

8. To be losing, to be behind in a competition.
9. (military) To carry (a firearm) with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.
10. To create a trail in.
11. To travel by following or creating trails.
12. To transport (livestock) by herding it along a trail.
13. (dated) To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

      I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance.

Derived terms

• trailer
• trail off

Translations

Noun

trail (plural trails)

1. The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the sky.
2. A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc.
3. A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.
4. (graph theory) A walk in which all the edges are distinct.

Synonyms

• (track of an animal): spoor, sign
• (route for travel over land): dirt track, footpath, path, track

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• path
• track

Anagrams

• TRALI, irtal, litra, trial

French

Noun

trail f (plural trails)

1. Dual-sport motorcycle
2. Trail running

English

Etymology

From Middle English romen, from Old English r?mian, from Proto-Germanic *raim?n? (“to wander”), from *raim- (“to move, raise”), from *h?reyH- (“to move, lift, flow”). Akin to Old English ?r?man (“to arise, stand up, lift up”), Old High German r?m?n (“to aim”) ( > archaic German rahmen (“to strive”)), Middle Dutch rammen (“to night-wander, to copulate”), rammelen (“to wander about, ramble”). More at ramble.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: r?m, IPA^(key): /???m/
• (General American) enPR: r?m, IPA^(key): /?o?m/
• Homophones: Rome
• Rhymes: -??m

Verb

roam (third-person singular simple present roams, present participle roaming, simple past and past participle roamed)

1. (intransitive) To wander or travel freely and with no specific destination.
   • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille (in The Guardian, 26 November 2013)[1]

     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.

2. (intransitive, computing, telecommunications) To use a network or service from different locations or devices.
3. (transitive, computing, telecommunications) To transmit (resources) between different locations or devices, to allow comparable usage from any of them.
   • 2013, Scott Isaacs, Kyle Burns, Beginning Windows Store Application Development

     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.

4. (transitive) To range or wander over.

Synonyms

• (wander freely): err, shrithe, wander

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Amor, Mora, Omar, Oram, Roma, moar, mora, roma

Portuguese

Verb

roam

1. third-person plural present subjunctive of roer
2. third-person plural imperative of roer