traverse
UK: ˈtrævɜːs | US: trəˈvɜːrs
v. to travel or move across an area
v. to extend or lie across something
n. a path or route that crosses an area
traverse = tra<across> + verse<turn>
- tra (from Latin trans, meaning "across")
- verse (from Latin vertere, meaning "to turn")
Etymology Origin:
The word traverse originates from Latin transversus ("turned across"), combining trans (across) and vertere (to turn). It entered Old French as traverser ("to cross"), later adopted into Middle English. The core idea of "crossing or turning across" persists in its modern meanings, whether describing physical movement (e.g., traversing a mountain) or abstract extension (e.g., a bridge traversing a river).
The hikers traversed the rugged terrain carefully.
A narrow path traverses the dense forest.
The documentary traverses centuries of cultural evolution.
Engineers designed a beam to traverse the entire width of the hall.
His speech traversed multiple topics without depth.