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ambulatory

 - 7 dictionary results

am⋅bu⋅la⋅to⋅ry

  [am-byuh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] adjective, noun, plural -ries.
Use ambulatory in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or capable of walking: an ambulatory exploration of the countryside.
2. adapted for walking, as the limbs of many animals.
3. moving about or from place to place; not stationary: an ambulatory tribe.
4. Also, ambulant. Medicine/Medical.
a. not confined to bed; able or strong enough to walk: an ambulatory patient.
b. serving patients who are able to walk: an ambulatory care center.
5. Law. not fixed; alterable or revocable: ambulatory will.
–noun
6. Also called deambulatory. Architecture.
a. an aisle surrounding the end of the choir or chancel of a church.
b. the covered walk of a cloister.
Origin:
1615–25; < L ambulātōrius, equiv. to ambulā-, s. of ambulāre (see amble ) + -tōrius tory1

Related forms:
am⋅bu⋅la⋅to⋅ri⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ambulatory
am·bu·la·to·ry   (ām'byə-lə-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē)   
adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or adapted for walking.

    1. Capable of walking; not bedridden: an ambulatory patient.

    2. Designed for or available to patients who are not bedridden: ambulatory care; ambulatory pediatrics.

  3. Moving about; itinerant.

  4. Law That can be changed or revoked, as a will during the life of the testator.

n.   pl. am·bu·la·to·ries
A covered place for walking, as in a cloister.
am'bu·la·to'ri·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ambulatory 
"of or pertaining to walking" (1622); also "shifting, not permanent" (1621), from L. ambulatorius "of or pertaining to a walker," from ambulator, from ambulare (see amble).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: am·bu·la·to·ry
Pronunciation: 'am-by&-l&-"tOr-E
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin ambulatorius, literally, movable, transferable, from ambulare to walk, move, be transferred
: capable of being altered ambulatory until the testator's death>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: am·bu·la·to·ry
Pronunciation: 'am-by&-l&-"tOr-E, -"tor-
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, oradapted to walking <ambulatory exercise>
2 a : able to walk about and not bedridden ambulatory patient> b : performed on or involvingan ambulatory patient or an outpatient ambulatory electrocardiogram> <ambulatory medical care> —am·bu·la·to·ri·ly /"am-by&-l&-'tOr-&-lE, -'tor-/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

ambulatory am·bu·la·to·ry (ām'byə-lə-tôr'ē)
adj.

  1. Of, relating to, or adapted for walking.

  2. Capable of walking; not bedridden.

  3. Moving about.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

ambulatory

in architecture, continuation of the aisled spaces on either side of the nave (central part of the church) around the apse (semicircular projection at the east end of the church) or chancel (east end of the church where the main altar stands) to form a continuous processional way. The ambulatory often provided improved sites for the numerous altars for saints, which formerly were located along a crowded corridor behind the high altar; the altars are reached through circular arches piercing the curved outer wall of the ambulatory.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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