v. [f. ppl. stem of L. spatiārī, f. spatium SPACE sb.1] intr. To walk about; to stroll, wander, range or roam. Also fig.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 720. The Fixing of the Minde upon one Object of Cogitation, whereby it doth not spatiate and transcurre, as it useth.
1656. in Blount, Glossogr.
a. 1711. Ken, Psyche, Poet. Wks. 1721, IV. 299. The Soul in Vision seem’d from Flesh unloos’d To fly abroad, and spatiate unconfin’d.
1734. Watts, Reliq. Juv. (1789), 140.
| My spirit feels her freedom, shakes her wings, | |
| Exults and spatiates o’er a thousand scenes. |
1846. Blackw. Mag., LIX. 759. Give him room and opportunity … to spatiate for the good of digestion.
1889. Jrnl. Archaeol. Inst., No. 181. 15. We can spatiate at peace and gather in a rich harvest of useful information.
Hence Spatiation. rare–0.
1658. Phillips, Spatiation, a walking at length, or in a large compasse.
