pilgrimage
Americannoun
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a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion.
a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
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Islam.
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any long journey, especially one undertaken as a quest or for a votive purpose, as to pay homage.
a pilgrimage to the grave of Shakespeare.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a journey to a shrine or other sacred place
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a journey or long search made for exalted or sentimental reasons
verb
Related Words
See trip 1.
Etymology
Origin of pilgrimage
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pilegrimage ( pilgrim, -age ); replacing earlier pelrimage, alteration of Old French pelerinage
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She is currently carrying out a six-day pilgrimage from St Paul's Cathedral in London to the cathedral - and is expected to arrive on Sunday.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
The pilgrimage, caping Salonen’s “Rituals,” involves dancer and choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, producer Kate Nordstrom and composer Tim Hecker.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
Designed in the early 1950s and opened in 1955, the hilltop Chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut replaced an earlier pilgrimage church destroyed during the war.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
Perched on the edge of the rugged Yorkshire moors that inspired Emily Bronte to write her masterpiece "Wuthering Heights", the quaint village of Haworth has long been a place of literary pilgrimage.
From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026
He could not understand why his mother had to make this weary, miserable pilgrimage to an unknown place, to a strange man who was holy and was dying.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
