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• pilgrim
  pilgrim

  noun

  a person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion.
• Pilgrim
  Pilgrim

  noun

  See Canterbury Pilgrims

pilgrim

American  

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

noun

• pilgrims
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• pilgrimatic
  adjective
• pilgrimatical
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pilgrims
  plural

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

Explanation

You might be a Muslim on your way to Mecca, or a Hindu going to the Ganges, or a Christian traveling to Lourdes. When you make a reverent journey to a place you consider sacred, you're a pilgrim. You can also use the word less seriously and call yourself a pilgrim when you make the trip to Graceland for Elvis Week. Another kind of pilgrim (often spelled with a capital P) are the Puritans who fled religious persecution in Europe, came over on the Mayflower, and founded Plymouth Colony, in Massachusetts. The word comes from the Latin peregrinus, "foreign," or "a foreigner," and if you just travel to foreign countries, you’re a pilgrim, too.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pilgrim Pilgrim pilgrims

“I’m just a weary pilgrim trying to find what feels like home,” she sings.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

I went to the pilgrim Mass and saw the famous thurible swing through the cathedral.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

I had only ever seen him on Zoom, and although he was tall, which was nice, I tried not to judge his brown cracked-leather buckled pilgrim shoes paired with high-waist Wrangler jeans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

"I can't believe I've finished the hajj rituals," Iraqi pilgrim Adnan Hamad, 58, told AFP, as his daughters in white robes, or abayas, looked on.

From Barron's ● May 27, 2026

As, with benumbed legs, he slowly left the still sleeping town at daybreak, a crouching shadow emerged from the last hut and joined the pilgrim.

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

Pilgrim Fatemeh Moradi, 52, has been to the Arbaeen at least five times before, but said that this year is for "our martyred leader, on his behalf and on the behalf of all the martyrs".

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

Mr Foster, a senior pastor at the Pilgrim Church in Nottingham, was appointed in June to oversee the government's response to the Windrush scandal and represent its victims.

From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025

The state produces only about half as much electricity as it did in 2010 because of closures of coal plants and the Pilgrim nuclear plant in 2019.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025

Malibu 78, Pilgrim 72: Dylan Goosen had 36 points in the overtime win.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024

It was these records that brought the Grey Pilgrim to us.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

Our revised route blessed us with hundreds of encounters with pilgrims.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

More than 800 foreigners from at least 34 countries are among the missing, including tourists and pilgrims, in both Nepal and Tibet in China.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Tretiakov was travelling with a group of Russian and Ukrainian pilgrims organised by the travel agency Tashi Delek.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Among them are 77 pilgrims from spiritual leader Sadhguru's Isha Foundation, including Europeans, North Americans and Australians.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

In one window, two pilgrims in thick wool breeches and doublets pointed at Plymouth rock while their fellow voyagers looked on from ships in the mural.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Related Words

• settler
• traveler