nomad

American  

[noh-mad] / ˈnoʊ mæd /

noun

• nomads
  plural

1. 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.

2. any wanderer; itinerant.

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adjective

1. nomadic.

nomad British  

/ ˈnəʊmæd /

noun

1. a member of a people or tribe who move from place to place to find pasture and food

2. a person who continually moves from place to place; wanderer

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nomadism
  noun
• nonnomad
  noun
• seminomad
  noun
• seminomadism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• nomads
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nomad nomads

I laughed when a protégé called me a digital nomad in the gig economy, like him.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Srinivasan’s ideology was a draw for Pranit Garg, a 29-year-old digital nomad who moved here in March, but his favorite part was the gym and all-you-can-eat protein.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Once the nomad larvae hatch, they kill the host bee larvae and consume the stored pollen and nectar intended for the mining bees.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026

She saw the tragedy as an "opportunity" to travel the world as a digital nomad, spending months at a time in places like Australia, Bali, Malta, and Thailand.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

With no money and no time to settle, we moved to a different ramshackle rental cottage or boardinghouse every season until I was so pregnant with Rachel that our nomad state seemed disreputable.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Shen and Leung credited their decision to build financial assets, rather than home equity, with giving them the financial independence to retire early, and live off their portfolio as digital nomads around the world.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

The Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia is one of the hottest and driest places on Earth, where nomads often lead camel caravans carrying salt through the desert.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

If there was any thought that this was a fleeting pandemic-era experiment of laptop nomads logging in from distant shores, data hints at its longevity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

Mexico City is attracting food lovers and digital nomads from all over the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025

Others were hungry nomads, only too willing to join up with the infamous Cluny.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Related Words

• migrant
• pilgrim
• vagabond
• wanderer