pilgrim

[pil-grim, -gruh m]

See more synonyms for pilgrim on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion: pilgrims to the Holy Land.
a traveler or wanderer, especially in a foreign place.
an original settler in a region.

(initial capital letter) one of the band of Puritans who founded the colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620.
a newcomer to a region or place, especially to the western U.S.

Origin of pilgrim

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

Related formspil·gri·mat·ic, pil·gri·mat·i·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pilgrim

traveler, settler, crusader, wanderer, pioneer, sojourner

Examples from the Web for pilgrim

Contemporary Examples of pilgrim

Most were originally drove roads, paths to market, or pilgrim paths.
The Unfindable Place: Robert Macfarlane’s Holloway
Edward Platt
June 26, 2013
Pictured above is the sculpture titled Hopeful Had Much Ado from Pilgrim's Progress.
The Future of Print!
William O’Connor
June 4, 2013
The tip of the one of the spires at the National Cathedral fell onto the steps of Pilgrim Road.
Earthquake Hits the East Coast!
August 23, 2011
After reading Franny and Zooey, I read The Way of the Pilgrim.
Salinger's Final Mystery
Nathaniel Rich
January 29, 2010

Historical Examples of pilgrim

Never did a pilgrim approach Niagara with deeper enthusiasm than mine.
Other Tales and Sketches
Nathaniel Hawthorne
I suppose the Pilgrim and the Rake are contrasted with each other.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
Why was Mr. Greatheart, in Pilgrim's Progress, my favorite character?
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
I only said that you are a pilgrim, a nobleman, and that I used to know you.
Father Sergius
Leo Tolstoy
In 'The Pilgrim's Progress' we are among genuine human beings.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude

British Dictionary definitions for pilgrim

pilgrim

noun

a person who undertakes a journey to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion
any wayfarer

Word Origin for pilgrim

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

Pilgrim

noun

See Canterbury Pilgrims (def. 2)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pilgrim

c.1200, pilegrim, from Old French pelerin, peregrin "pilgrim, crusader; foreigner, stranger" (11c., Modern French pèlerin), from Late Latin pelegrinus, dissimilated from Latin peregrinus "foreigner" (source of Italian pellegrino, Spanish peregrino), from peregre (adv.) "from abroad," from per- "beyond" + agri, locative case of ager "country" (see acre).

Change of first -r- to -l- in most Romance languages by dissimilation; the -m appears to be a Germanic modification. Pilgrim Fathers "English Puritans who founded Plymouth colony" is first found 1799 (they called themselves Pilgrims from c.1630, in reference to Hebrew xi:13).