traverse
truh-VURSS
/trəˈvɜːrs/
To travel across or through; to move sideways across a steep slope.
Traverse implies moving across an area rather than just through it, often suggesting a horizontal path on a vertical surface.
The story behind the word. Derived from the Latin 'trans' (across) and 'vertere' (to turn). It literally means to turn across something.
Word relationships
- cross: Cross is the everyday term; traverse is more technical and implies a systematic movement.
- stay: To remain in one place.
Commonly confused with
- transverse: Transverse is an adjective meaning 'situated across'; traverse is usually the verb for the action.
Word family
- traversal (noun): The act of passing through or across.
- traversable (adjective): Able to be traveled through or over.
Collocations
- traverse the globe
- traverse a slope
- difficult traverse
- traverse the terrain
Example sentences
- "The robotic rover was designed to traverse the rocky surface of Mars." Scientific exploration.
- "We had to traverse the ice field carefully to avoid the deep crevasses." Mountaineering technique.
Memory hook
Traverse = Trans (across) + Verse (traveling through the lines). Tra-VERSE: Travel across the uni-VERSE.
When not to use
Avoid using it for simple, direct movements like 'walking across the street' unless you want to sound overly formal.
Fun facts
- In computer science, 'traversing' a tree or graph means visiting every node in the structure.
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