Jump To:

• pioneer
  pioneer

  noun

  a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
• Pioneer
  Pioneer

  noun

  a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention

pioneer

American  

[pahy-uh-neer] / ˌpaɪ əˈnɪər /

noun

• pioneers
  plural

1. 

   a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.

2. a person, group, or thing that is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or development.

   a woman who was a pioneer in cancer research;

   vehicles that were pioneers of automotive engineering.

   Synonyms:

   innovator, groundbreaker, trailblazer, leader

3. one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig intrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body.

4. Ecology. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.

5. Aerospace. Pioneer, one of a series of U.S. space probes that explored the solar system and transmitted scientific information to earth.

6. Pioneer, (formerly) a member of a Communist organization in the Soviet Union for children ranging in age from 10 to 16.

---

verb (used without object)

• pioneers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pioneered,
  past participle,  past
• pioneering
  present participle

1. to act as a pioneer.

verb (used with object)

• pioneers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pioneered,
  past participle,  past
• pioneering
  present participle

1. to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.).

2. to take part in the beginnings of; initiate.

   to pioneer an aid program.

3. to lead the way for (a group); trailblaze.

adjective

1. being the earliest, original, first of a particular kind, etc..

   a pioneer method of adult education.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of pioneers.

   pioneer justice.

3. being a pioneer.

   a pioneer fur trader.

pioneer ¹ British  

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. 1. a colonist, explorer, or settler of a new land, region, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pioneer wagon

2. an innovator or developer of something new

3. military a member of an infantry group that digs entrenchments, makes roads, etc

4. ecology the first species of plant or animal to colonize an area of bare ground

---

verb

1. to be a pioneer (in or of)

2. (tr) to initiate, prepare, or open up

   to pioneer a medical programme

Pioneer ² British  

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention

---

Pioneer ³ British  

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. any of a series of US spacecraft that studied the solar system, esp Pioneer 10, which made the first flyby of Jupiter (1973), and Pioneer 11, which made the first flyby of Saturn (1979)

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pioneers
  plural

Participles

• pioneering
  present
• pioneered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pioneer
  simple
• pioneers
  simple
• have pioneered
  perfect
• has pioneered
  perfect
• am pioneering
  progressive
• are pioneering
  progressive
• is pioneering
  progressive
• have been pioneering
  perfect progressive
• has been pioneering
  perfect progressive

Past

• pioneered
  simple
• had pioneered
  perfect
• was pioneering
  progressive
• were pioneering
  progressive
• had been pioneering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pioneer
  simple
• will have pioneered
  perfect
• will be pioneering
  progressive
• will have been pioneering
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of pioneer

First recorded in 1515–25; from Middle French pionier, Old French peonier “foot soldier”; see origin at peon ¹, -eer

---

Explanation

A pioneer is one of the first settlers in a new place. If you desperately want to experience life in space, maybe you will be one of the pioneers who live in the first moon settlement. Pioneer comes from the old French for foot soldier or laborer, and particularly for groups of soldiers that would go out ahead of the rest of the troops to prepare the way. The European settlers who came to America in the 16th century are known as pioneers, as are the later groups who traveled West in the 18th and 19th centuries. We also use pioneer for anyone who takes initiative in a field, such as science or education.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pioneer Pioneer pioneers pioneered pioneering

Once the leader of and undisputed standard-bearer for the TV-to-digital shift, the streaming pioneer has had to publicly contend with various moments of weakness throughout this year.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Maniscalco is an incredible businessman, and a pioneer in the craft of shouting a premise and then pausing until the audience agrees it’s a punchline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Now the state has emerged as a pioneer of pro-LGBTQ laws and policies, at a time when the high court has moved considerably to the right.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

"The first impression was, well, I thought it was completely irrelevant," says Diamos, a pioneer in harnessing Nvidia's powerful GPU chips for AI.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Similarly, the pioneer of public education in Massachusetts, Horace Mann, believed that working students too hard would create a “most pernicious influence upon character and habits—Not infrequently is health itself destroyed by over-stimulating the mind.”

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Pioneer typically works with food, medical and industrial supply companies, creating disposable trays made of materials such as polystyrene or polyvinyl chloride.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

You can check the local calendar here or plan now for the Whale Rock Music & Arts Festival at Castoro Cellars Sept. 19-20 or for the Pioneer Day Parade downtown on Oct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

"It appears the BoJ will pull the trigger and hike in September but then open the door to a potential pick up in the pace of hiking," Paresh Upadhyaya at Pioneer Investments said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Iran did not acknowledge being responsible, but shipping analysts have said it was likely to have been behind the Minoan Pioneer attack on 3 August.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Radar pictures of Venus have been obtained, some from ground-based radar telescopes, some from the Pioneer Venus vehicle in orbit around the planet.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Many see themselves as pioneers seeking a simple agrarian life in the rugged hills without smartphones or other modern accouterments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

By 2007, both Don Omar and Hakim had cemented themselves as pioneers and icons in their respective genres.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Wing or centre, a wonderful finisher and a player whose innate talents were honed on those tough streets of his district - one that also produced fellow pioneers Roy Francis and Colin Dixon.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Known as 'vacuum birefringence', the phenomenon was predicted nearly 90 years ago by Werner Heisenberg, one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

Haydn had learnt about the symphony from pioneers like Wenzel Birck, Georg Wagenseil and Johann Stamitz, all now virtually unknown.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

He was cast in Breaking Bad at 14, and told Channel 4 News in 2016 that the show "pioneered a lot of TV and writers to be more brave".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Schulze Dias: A few years ago, we really pioneered in our organization here in North America an AI Champions program.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

But remember that before Oppenheimer tossed us into the nuclear age, he pioneered modern theoretical physics in the United States.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

The theft-prone models lack a critical safeguard called an engine immobilizer pioneered in the mid-1980s, when more than 60,000 cars a year were stolen in Los Angeles alone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

He’d pioneered the use of estrogen for treating symptoms of menopause and made important early discoveries about endometriosis.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

William H. Draper III, a pioneering Silicon Valley venture capitalist, died on Sept. 8 at the age of 98.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Guardiola only spent four seasons at Barcelona, but it was an era-defining tenure, the Catalan giants pioneering a brand of football that would be celebrated and copied the world over.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

She was someone who co-founded a pioneering nonprofit in the crucible of a changing South L.A. in the 1990s and always seemed to land on the right side of history until becoming mayor in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

"This is the pioneering study showing that polyethylene can contribute to fatty liver disease and the use of spatial transcriptomics has determined exactly where the damage has happened within the liver," Joshi said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

The organization opposed black candidates for public office whom they deemed too accommodationist and its members walked alongside the pioneering black students integrating Durham’s public schools.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---