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afield

Adverb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

At or to a distance in the field; away from home or the usual place.

Detailed Definition
"Afield" is an older literary adverb meaning out in the fields or farther away. Stevenson uses it in "Where afield I linger" to suggest wandering or being out in the open countryside.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Where afield I linger” means away from home or across open country; “The lambs wandered afield beyond the gate” uses its literal rural sense; “Her thoughts ranged afield among old maps” makes the movement intellectual; “Afield from the classroom, we learned the names of mosses” gives a contemporary extension
Additional Notes
"afield" is a literary/old-fashioned word in the quoted line that is less familiar than everyday adverbs.; Found in the poem, The Vagabond by Robert Louis Stevenson
Also Known As
in the fields abroad out in the open away
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