pilgrim

American  

[pil-grim, -gruhm] / ˈpɪl grɪm, -grəm /

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.

3. an original settler in a region.

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

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

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pilgrim ¹ British  

/ ˈpɪlɡrɪm /

noun

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

2. any wayfarer

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Pilgrim ² British  

/ ˈpɪlɡrɪm /

noun

1. See Canterbury Pilgrims

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Other Word Forms

• pilgrimatic adjective
• pilgrimatical adjective

Etymology

Origin of pilgrim

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

Example Sentences

A steady stream of pilgrims passes through the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi to see the saint’s remains, placed on public display to mark the 800th anniversary of his death.

From Barron's

A long line of pilgrims and visitors snaked outside the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy on Sunday as his remains went on public display for the first time.

From Barron's

Fearful of a future shackled to the home, Charu leaves at 16 to find her way in Bombay, the first of this pilgrim soul’s reinventions.

From The Wall Street Journal

And it launched a new app for liturgies in the Basilica, which will allow pilgrims to follow mass by Pope Leo XIV in 60 languages via their smartphones.

From Barron's

“Aunt Pretty, these are wonderful! Look, there’s a pilgrim. And a Santa Claus.”

From Literature

Related Words

• settler
• traveler