pilgrim

[ pil-grim, -gruhm ]
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noun
  1. a person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion: pilgrims to the Holy Land.

  2. a traveler or wanderer, especially in a foreign place.

  1. an original settler in a region.

  2. (initial capital letter) one of the band of Puritans who founded the colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620.

  3. a newcomer to a region or place, especially to the western U.S.

Origin of pilgrim

1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English pelegrim, pilegrim, cognate with Old Frisian pilegrīm, Middle Low German pelegrīm, Old High German piligrīm, Old Norse pīlagrīmr, all from Medieval Latin pelegrīnus, dissimilated variant of Latin peregrīnus peregrine

Other words from pilgrim

  • pil·gri·mat·ic, pil·gri·mat·i·cal, adjective

Words Nearby pilgrim

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

How to use pilgrim in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pilgrim (1 of 2)

pilgrim

/ (ˈpɪlɡrɪm) /


noun
  1. a person who undertakes a journey to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion

  2. any wayfarer

Origin of pilgrim

1
C12: from Provençal pelegrin, from Latin peregrīnus foreign, from per through + ager field, land; see peregrine

British Dictionary definitions for Pilgrim (2 of 2)

Pilgrim

/ (ˈpɪlɡrɪm) /


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