pilgrim

[pil-grim, -gruhm]

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.

pilgrim

¹

/ ˈpɪlɡrɪm /

noun

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

2. any wayfarer

Pilgrim

²

/ ˈpɪlɡrɪm /

noun

1. See Canterbury Pilgrims

Other Word Forms

• pilgrimatic adjective
• pilgrimatical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pilgrim¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pilgrim¹

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

Example Sentences

Legend also casts it as the final resting place of pilgrims from across the world seeking salvation.

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An avid researcher armed with a camera, Enriquez is both reporter and pilgrim.

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The house became part of children's television history and has seen "busloads" of preschool pilgrims wanting to visit the set in the colourful harbour town.

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The excavation is said to mark the route of a Roman-era street taken by pilgrims to the site revered by Jews as the location of two Biblical temples.

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There was no mention anywhere of the Africans abducted and enslaved by these “Christian pilgrims.”

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Related Words

• settler 
• traveler