voyageur

[ vwah-yah-zhur, voi-uh-; French vwa-ya-zhœr ]

noun,plural vo·ya·geurs [vwah-yah-zhurz, voi-uh-; French vwa-ya-zhœr]. /ˌvwɑ yɑˈʒɜrz, ˌvɔɪ ə-; French vwa yaˈʒœr/.
  1. (in Canada) a person who is an expert woodsman, boatman, and guide in remote regions, especially one employed by fur companies to transport supplies to and from their distant stations.

Origin of voyageur

1
1785–95; <French: traveler, equivalent to voyag(er) to travel (derivative of voyage journey; see voyage) + -eur-eur

Words that may be confused with voyageur

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use voyageur in a sentence

  • Among these were included a large number of French voyageurs.

    South American Fights and Fighters | Cyrus Townsend Brady
  • They caught salmon in the water, and the silver-coloured hyodon, known among the voyageurs by the name of “Doré.”

  • A great number, however, are half-breeds and French Canadians, especially among the labourers and voyageurs.

    Hudson Bay | R.M. Ballantyne
  • Nothing can be more picturesque than a band of voyageurs breakfasting on the banks of a pretty river.

    Hudson Bay | R.M. Ballantyne
  • At the middle of the eighteenth century we find complaints that the race of voyageurs is growing scarce.

British Dictionary definitions for voyageur

voyageur

/ (ˌvɔɪəˈdʒɜː) /


nounCanadian
  1. history a boatman employed by one of the early fur-trading companies, esp in the interior

  2. a woodsman, guide, trapper, boatman, or explorer, esp in the North

Origin of voyageur

1
C19: from French: traveller, from voyager to voyage

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012