ambulatory adj : able to walk about; "the patient is ambulatory" [syn: ambulant]

English

Hyphenation

am·bu·la·to·ry

Pronunciation

am-by-l-tOr-E

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or adapted to walking

   ambulatory exercise

2. Able to walk about and not bedridden.

   an ambulatory patient

3. Performed on or involving an ambulatory patient or an outpatient.

   an ambulatory electrocardiogram

   ambulatory medical care

Noun

1. The round walkway encircling the altar in many cathedrals.

Translations

• Dutch: ambulant, ambulante
• French: déambulatoire

The ambulatory (Med. Lat. ambulatorium, a place for walking, from ambulare, to walk) is the covered passage around a cloister; a term applied sometimes to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar.

Aisles that line the nave extend through the transept and continue in a half-circle that runs behind the apse. Along the ambulatory, there are small chapels (chantries). This modification by Romanesque architects allowed visitors to move freely around the altar without disturbing the monks' devotions.

References

access, aisle, alley, ambulant, ambulative, aperture, arcade, artery, avenue, channel, circuit-riding, cloister, colonnade, communication, conduit, connection, corridor, covered way, defile, exit, expeditionary, ferry, ford, gallery, globe-girdling, globe-trotting, going, inlet, interchange, intersection, itinerant, itinerary, journeying, junction, lane, locomotive, moving, mundivagant, nomadic, on tour, opening, outlet, overpass, pass, passage, passageway, passing, pedestrian, perambulating, perambulatory, peregrinative, peregrine, peripatetic, pilgrimlike, portico, progressing, railroad tunnel, roving, strolling, touring, touristic, touristy, traject, trajet, traveling, trekking, tunnel, underpass, vagabond, vagrant, walking, wayfaring