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• pioneer
  pioneer

  noun

  a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
• Pioneer
  Pioneer

  noun

  a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention

pioneer

American  

[pahy-uh-neer] / ˌpaɪ əˈnɪər /

noun

• pioneers
  plural

1. 

   a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.

2. a person, group, or thing that is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or development.

   a woman who was a pioneer in cancer research;

   vehicles that were pioneers of automotive engineering.

   Synonyms:

   innovator, groundbreaker, trailblazer, leader

3. one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig intrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body.

4. Ecology. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.

5. Aerospace. Pioneer, one of a series of U.S. space probes that explored the solar system and transmitted scientific information to earth.

6. Pioneer, (formerly) a member of a Communist organization in the Soviet Union for children ranging in age from 10 to 16.

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verb (used without object)

• pioneers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pioneered,
  past participle,  past
• pioneering
  present participle

1. to act as a pioneer.

verb (used with object)

• pioneers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pioneered,
  past participle,  past
• pioneering
  present participle

1. to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.).

2. to take part in the beginnings of; initiate.

   to pioneer an aid program.

3. to lead the way for (a group); trailblaze.

adjective

1. being the earliest, original, first of a particular kind, etc..

   a pioneer method of adult education.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of pioneers.

   pioneer justice.

3. being a pioneer.

   a pioneer fur trader.

pioneer ¹ British  

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. 1. a colonist, explorer, or settler of a new land, region, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pioneer wagon

2. an innovator or developer of something new

3. military a member of an infantry group that digs entrenchments, makes roads, etc

4. ecology the first species of plant or animal to colonize an area of bare ground

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verb

1. to be a pioneer (in or of)

2. (tr) to initiate, prepare, or open up

   to pioneer a medical programme

Pioneer ² British  

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention

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Pioneer ³ British  

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. any of a series of US spacecraft that studied the solar system, esp Pioneer 10, which made the first flyby of Jupiter (1973), and Pioneer 11, which made the first flyby of Saturn (1979)

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pioneers
  plural

Participles

• pioneering
  present
• pioneered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pioneer
  simple
• pioneers
  simple
• have pioneered
  perfect
• has pioneered
  perfect
• am pioneering
  progressive
• are pioneering
  progressive
• is pioneering
  progressive
• have been pioneering
  perfect progressive
• has been pioneering
  perfect progressive

Past

• pioneered
  simple
• had pioneered
  perfect
• was pioneering
  progressive
• were pioneering
  progressive
• had been pioneering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pioneer
  simple
• will have pioneered
  perfect
• will be pioneering
  progressive
• will have been pioneering
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of pioneer

First recorded in 1515–25; from Middle French pionier, Old French peonier “foot soldier”; see origin at peon ¹, -eer

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Explanation

A pioneer is one of the first settlers in a new place. If you desperately want to experience life in space, maybe you will be one of the pioneers who live in the first moon settlement. Pioneer comes from the old French for foot soldier or laborer, and particularly for groups of soldiers that would go out ahead of the rest of the troops to prepare the way. The European settlers who came to America in the 16th century are known as pioneers, as are the later groups who traveled West in the 18th and 19th centuries. We also use pioneer for anyone who takes initiative in a field, such as science or education.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pioneer Pioneer pioneers pioneered pioneering

She, like Pulido, grew up in the border area known as the Rio Grande Valley -- but her father was not a Tejano music pioneer.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

"Going forward, we hope to clarify the mechanism by which pyruvate promotes triglyceride accumulation to pioneer the development of therapeutic drugs and establishment of preventive methods through dietary interventions," added Professor Harada.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

Toward 1 a.m., a 10-minute stroll south into SoHo led us to the Blue Ribbon Brasserie, a pioneer of New York’s high-end late-night scene since 1992.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

To save time and ingredients, Samuel and his head maltster, Job Goodhead, used a teapot to brew the first IPA and helped pioneer a new taste.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

Like now: he was imagining that he was a pioneer, the first person ever to hike this hill.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

Pioneer bought additional tooling and experimented with changes in temperature and curing times to better understand and fix the problem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Production of the second batch of trays was delayed because Pioneer used much of the raw material figuring out how to get the job done right.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Gabriel Florenz, founding artistic and executive director of the Brooklyn cultural center Pioneer Works, considers Wolfe’s holdings the most important collection of Ghanaian fantasy coffins in the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

"It appears the BoJ will pull the trigger and hike in September but then open the door to a potential pick up in the pace of hiking," Paresh Upadhyaya at Pioneer Investments said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Pioneer 1 arced through space until, sixty thousand miles out, not quite one-quarter of the way, it lost momentum and dropped back, burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Even some AI pioneers are calling out for more regulation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

It was one of the pioneers in issuing commercial paper to fund banks’ lending activities, without being a bank itself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

These new pioneers coax the landscape into fertile framing, helping to feed hungry populations.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Wing or centre, a wonderful finisher and a player whose innate talents were honed on those tough streets of his district - one that also produced fellow pioneers Roy Francis and Colin Dixon.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The Edmonton pioneers would have found the Great Plains teeming with game.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The modern-day interpretation of the holiday was pioneered by the Eastside nonprofit Self Help Graphics & Art, which hosted its first Día de los Muertos public celebration in 1972.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

It opened in 2024 featuring cutting-edge equipment such as a huge die-casting machine that churns out entire rear-floor units—a technique pioneered by Tesla.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

The 1984 Games in L.A. pioneered the marketing tactic with “Play a Part in History.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

But 20 years earlier, few could dismiss the credentials of a man who pioneered the Three Lions' first and only World Cup triumph, Manchester United's Bobby Charlton.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

He believed the Rad Lab was destined to face inevitable decline as physics progressed and competitive laboratories emerged—many of them built on the model Lawrence had pioneered.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

When pioneering researchers met at Dartmouth for a summer project in 1956, they were already curious about how machines could improve themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

It forms part of a pioneering amphibian conservation project in Catalonia supported by the Barcelona Zoo Foundation.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

For their pioneering work on AlphaFold, Hassabis and Jumper won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

He also controls the pioneering electric car company Tesla.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

One scientist in particular, David Strayer, played a pioneering role, though he faced great opposition when he first started his work.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

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