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ambulatory

am·bu·la·to·ry/ˈam.bjə.ləˌtoɹ.i/adjective, noun

ambulatory is spelled A-M-B-U-L-A-T-O-R-Y: 10 letters and 5 syllables (am·bu·la·to·ry). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ambulatory means “Of, relating to, or adapted to walking” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in ambulatory?

Letters10: A-M-B-U-L-A-T-O-R-Y
Syllables5: am·bu·la·to·ry
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is ambulatory?

Ambulatory appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ambulatory?

  • US /ˈam.bjə.ləˌtoɹ.i/
  • US /-bjʊ-/
  • UK /ˌæm.bjəˈleɪ.tɹi/

Ambulatory has 5 syllables, split am·bu·la·to·ry in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ambulatory.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of ambulatory

  • more ambulatory comparative
  • most ambulatory superlative
  • ambulatories plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ambulatory mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, relating to, or adapted to walking.

    ambulatory exercise

  2. 2

    Able to walk about and not bedridden.

    an ambulatory patient

  3. 3

    Performed on or involving an outpatient.

    an ambulatory electrocardiogram

  4. 4

    Relating to ambulances.

    ambulatory fleet

  5. 5

    Accustomed to move from place to place; not stationary; movable.

    an ambulatory court, which exercises its jurisdiction in different places

  6. 6

    Not yet legally fixed or settled; alterable.

    The dispositions of a will are ambulatory until the death of the testator.

noun

  1. 1

    The semicircular walkway behind the altar and apse in many cathedrals.

  2. 2

    Any part of a building intended for walking in; a corridor.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ambulatory in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchambulatoire, déambulatoire (of, relating to, or adapted to walking)
Portugueseambulante (of, relating to, or adapted to walking), ambulatório (performed on or involving an ambulatory patient…), charola (round walkway encircling the altar)
Spanishambulatorio (of, relating to, or adapted to walking), deambulatorio (round walkway encircling the altar)
Germanambulant (performed on or involving an ambulatory patient…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ambulatory come from?

From Latin ambulatorius. By surface analysis, ambulate + -ory, or, by surface analysis, ambulator + -y.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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