One of the defining characteristics of our species, Homo sapiens, is that we are bipedal, that is, we stand upright, and, therefore, we propel ourselves forward with two legs. Our basic anatomy—feet, knees, pelvis, spinal cord, and skull—is based on bipedalism. From an evolutionary perspective, bipedalism seems to have been one of the first distinctly human traits to evolve. With bipedalism, humans have a restricted form of locomotion known as walking. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the words relating to human locomotion.
Walk
The type of gait that we associated with walking today was probably not the gait that the word walk originally described. In his book Dictionary of Word Origins, Joseph Shipley writes of the etymology of walk:
“The sailor’s gait (or the horseman’s) is closest to this word, which first meant to roll…”
The English word walk first emerged about 1200 as a merger of two Old English verbs: wealcan meaning “to toss, roll, move around” and wealcian meaning “to roll up, curl.” These seem to come from the Proto-Germanic *welk- which is from the Proto-Indo-European root *wel- meaning “to turn, revolve, roll.”
This initial meaning of walk seems far removed from its current meaning of “to travel on foot.” In an eleventh-century glossary, the Anglo Saxon wealcan was translated into Latin as ferventis oceani meaning “walking sea.” In his Dictionary of Word Origins, John Ayto reports:
“This gradually broadened out via ‘move about’ to ‘go on a journey,’ but the specific application to ‘travelling on foot’ did not emerge until the 13th century.”
There is another interesting connection from the processes of making cloth. Part of the process of making cloth and felt involved treading on it and this may be the part of the change in meaning. The Old High German walchan meaning “to knead” was used in describing this process.
In the thirteenth century, walk was also used to describe the locomotion of snakes.
Run
The ability to run probably had some evolutionary survival value. The origins of the English verb to run are somewhat obscure. John Ayto reports:
“Its ultimate ancestry is not known, although links have been suggested with Sanskrit rnoti ‘he moves’ and Greek órnũmi ‘rouse.’”
Other etymologies, however, see the origins of to run in the Old English intransitive verb rinnan (irnan) meaning “to run, flow, run together.” Going back farther in time, this is from the Proto-Indo-European *ri-ne-a- meaning “to run, flow.”
In American English, to run with the meaning of “to be in charge of” is first attested in 1861. The American English meaning “to seek office in an election” is first attested in 1826.
Stroll
The English verb to stroll entered into the language about 1600. It seems to be from the dialectal German strollen, which is a variant of the Swiss German strolchen meaning “to stroll about, loaf” and is related to Strolch meaning “vagabond, vagrant; fortuneteller.”
Trudge
For most Americans, the verb to trudge is probably not a part of their everyday vocabulary and many have probably never encountered. It is, however, a part of the archaic vocabulary used in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous. It came into English in the 1540s with the meaning of “to walk laboriously.” It has an unknown origin.
Plod
The verb to plod is first found in English with the 1560s with the meaning of "to trudge, travel or work slowly and perseveringly; go with steady and laborious diligence." It has an unknown origin. Some people have suggested that it is imitative of the sound of walking heavily or slowly.
Jogging
The concept of running for exercise—i.e., jogging—is a fairly recent innovation: as a regime for athletes, it dates from 1948 and as a popular fad from 1967. The word jogging in reference to running probably came from its use in horsemanship where it referred to the act of exercising or working a horse, usually in preparation for a race.
In terms of etymology, the verb to jog meaning “to shake up and down” came into English in the 1540s from the Middle English shaggan meaning “to shake, jolt, move with a jerk.” It has an uncertain origin.
Hike
The verb to hyke meaning “to walk vigorously” is first attested in English in 1809. It did not come into popular use as hike until the early twentieth century.
Ramble
The verb to ramble meaning “to walk, go” came into English in the mid-fifteenth century. It may have come from romen or from the Old English ramian which is the basis for the English verb to roam.
More Etymology
Origins of English: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper
Origins of English: Kinds of meat
Origins of English: Kibitzing about the whole kit and kaboodle
Origins of English: Traveling Words
Origins of English: Good and Evil
Origins of English: Law and crime words
Origins of English: Time
Origins of English: Politics and Government