nomad
Americannoun
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a member of a people or tribe that has no permanent abode but moves about from place to place, usually seasonally and often following a traditional route or circuit according to the state of the pasturage or food supply.
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any wanderer; itinerant.
adjective
noun
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a member of a people or tribe who move from place to place to find pasture and food
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a person who continually moves from place to place; wanderer
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nomad
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin nomad-, from Greek, stem of nomás “roaming about for pasture,” akin to némein “to pasture, graze”
Explanation
A nomad is someone with no permanent home, like the member of a tribe that moves from place to place in search of food, or the rock star who spends 365 days a year in tour buses and hotel rooms. The word nomad has traditionally meant a member of a tribe of people who roamed from place to place in search of animals and shelter. Nomadic tribes wandered out of necessity. Wherever the food went, they went. In its more modern sense, a nomad is someone who would rather wander from place to place than set down roots, like the nomad who crashes at his friends' apartments in various cities instead of renting his own place.
Vocabulary lists containing nomad
Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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The Breadwinner
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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.
For many younger Americans, remote work has made living overseas possible long before retirement, Nomad Capitalist’s Henderson says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
The Flatiron Nomad Partnership said it would install software updates "to limit such behaviour appearing on the livestream".
From BBC • May 14, 2024
Data were collected using the Urban Mind app, developed by King's College London, landscape architects J&L Gibbons and arts foundation Nomad Projects.
From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2024
The emergency stay granted by Fifth Circuit judges on Friday came in a case brought by two fracking companies, Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services.
From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2024
The rule is intended to protect both the interns and the refugees, and ease the management challenges of the Nomad program.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
