saunter: [15] Saunter’s modern connotations of ‘walking’ did not emerge until the 17th century, but it is presumably the same word as Middle English santer ‘muse’. The origins of this, however, are largely a matter of speculation. One theory is that it is connected with the 15thcentury term sawnterell ‘pretended saint, sanctimonious person’, the notion being that those who affect piety go around with a faraway mystical musing air. Sawnterell in turn was probably a derivative of saint. => saint
