wander
v.v. to walk around slowly without a specific goal or a clear direction. You can also use it to describe your mind when you stop paying attention and start thinking about other things.
v. to move about without a fixed course or destination; to stray from a path or subject. Often used metaphorically to describe a lack of mental focus or a loss of concentration.
We spent the afternoon wandering through the old streets of the city.
If you let your mind wander during the lecture, you might miss the most important instructions.
The narrator's thoughts frequently wander from the main plot, leading the reader into long, descriptive passages about the history of the surrounding countryside.
From Middle English wandren, from Old English wandrian (“to wander, roam, fly around, hover; change; stray, err”), from Proto-West Germanic wandarōn (“to wander”), from wandōn (“to turn, change”) + *-rōn (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Scots wander (“to wander”), German wandern (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Dutch wandelen (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Danish vandre (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Swedish vandra (“to wander, hike”).
The verb can be used intransitively or with a prepositional phrase like 'through' or 'around'.
I wandered if she was coming.I wondered if she was coming.Learners often confuse 'wander' (to walk) with 'wonder' (to think or ask oneself).