French Conversation · Level 140
30 words
French word
ambulant
Pronunciation
IPA/ɑ̃bylɑ̃/
Meaning
- adjectivetraveling
Example
Le vendeur ambulant vend ses légumes près de la gare.
The traveling vendor sells his vegetables near the station.
More examples
Un service ambulant de réparation passe de quartier en quartier.
A traveling repair service goes from neighborhood to neighborhood.
Core concept
A mobile stall or worker that serves people at successive places instead of operating from a permanent location.
Common phrases
service ambulant
traveling service
vendeur ambulant
street vendor
Similar words
itinérant: Working or performing in different places rather than staying in one.
mobile: Designed to be moved or transported.
Definition in French
Qui se déplace régulièrement d'un lieu à un autre pour exercer une activité, sans rester à un emplacement fixe.
Word origin
The French adjective ambulant is based on Latin ambulans, from ambulare, 'to walk', whose sense of moving around underlies the modern meaning.
Usage tips
- Ambulant and ambulatoire are related in form but differ in use: ambulatoire commonly means outpatient or not requiring hospital admission in medical contexts.
Other meanings
- mobileadjective
Opposites
- sédentairesedentaryadjective
- fixefixedadjective
Related words
- ambulanceambulancenoun