pilgrimage

[pil-gruh-mij]

noun

1. a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion.

   a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

2. Islam.

   1. the Pilgrimage, hajj.

   2. ʿumrah.

3. any long journey, especially one undertaken as a quest or for a votive purpose, as to pay homage.

   a pilgrimage to the grave of Shakespeare.

   Synonyms: tour, excursion

verb (used without object)

pilgrimaged, pilgrimaging 

1. to make a pilgrimage.

pilgrimage

/ ˈpɪlɡrɪmɪdʒ /

noun

1. a journey to a shrine or other sacred place

2. a journey or long search made for exalted or sentimental reasons

verb

1. (intr) to make a pilgrimage

Word History and Origins

Origin of pilgrimage¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pilegrimage ( pilgrim, -age ); replacing earlier pelrimage, alteration of Old French pelerinage

Synonym Study

See trip ¹.

Example Sentences

“It’s important,” says Hahn, when asked for this thoughts on why Disneyland has not only endured, but remains a pilgrimage for so many.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“True Nature” is a kind of biographical pilgrimage, and if it never achieves total clarity, we have been reminded by its subject that it is the journey and not the arrival that matters.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Last November, a collection of business, academic and political luminaries made a pilgrimage to a wood-paneled conference room at Harvard University.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They had gone to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, which is a shorter version of Hajj, the biggest Islamic pilgrimage.

Read more on BBC

To no surprise, the nation’s top investment-banking and consulting firms descend on elite schools to find the brightest minds—a pilgrimage that explains why Wall Street is packed with Ivy League alumni.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• crusade 
• excursion 
• expedition 
• tour 
• trip