Word
afield
US/əˈfiɫd/
UK/ɐfˈiːld/
Definition
adv. away from a specific place or topic. You use this when you want to say someone is moving to a different area or talking about something else.
adv. away from a particular place, subject, or area of interest. Often used to indicate a shift in focus or a physical departure from a central point.
Examples
“The conversation soon went afield to talk about sports.”
“The researchers had to go afield to collect samples from the remote mountain peaks.”
“While the initial debate centered on economic policy, the discussion soon went afield into the realm of social justice and international law.”
Examples
simple
“The conversation soon went afield to talk about sports.”
contextual
“The researchers had to go afield to collect samples from the remote mountain peaks.”
complex
“While the initial debate centered on economic policy, the discussion soon went afield into the realm of social justice and international law.”
Real-World Examples
“Donations have come from the local community, and as far afield as Australia and Manhattan, he said.” “Have you any earlier examples from further afield?” Etymology
From Middle English afeld, a-felde, o felde, on felde, from Old English on felde (“afield”, literally “in (the) field”), equivalent to a- (“on”) + field.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/afield