afield

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   away from home, a starting point, or one's usual surroundings, often at some distance

   The search party went farther afield after finding no tracks near the village.

2. 2
   adv

   away from the subject or beyond the usual scope of an activity

   The discussion ranged afield into questions that the committee was not formed to answer.

From Middle English afeld and Old English on felde, literally "in the field," formed from a- (a reduced form of on) + field. Movement beyond the home field produced the broader senses "away from home" and "beyond one's usual subject or range."

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