stray, wander, loiter
彷 centers on aimless movement without a fixed destination: straying, wandering, or loitering.
彷 combines 彳 (going, movement) with 方, which likely contributes the sound ホウ and may suggest a directionless or sideways motion, fitting the idea of wandering.
The going-person radical 彳 suggests movement, and 方 can be seen as a person looking around in all directions. Together, they paint a picture of someone walking without a clear path, straying and loitering.
For ホウ, imagine a wanderer who finally finds a home (ホウ) after straying for days: home -> ホウ, and the wanderer stops loitering.
(bearing a) close resemblance; vivid reminder (e.g. of the past)
wandering; rambling; roaming
to loiter; to putter; to prowl; to wander about; to roam about; to knock around
roaming; loitering; wandering; far astray
walking around aimlessly
fluctuation; environmental variation
the sky and water merging into one; seamless merging of the sea and the sky