pioneer

[pahy-uh-neer]

noun

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.

verb (used without object)

1. to act as a pioneer.

verb (used with object)

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

/ 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

verb

1. to be a pioneer (in or of)

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

   to pioneer a medical programme

Pioneer

²

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

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

Pioneer

³

/ 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)

Word History and Origins

Origin of pioneer¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pioneer¹

C16: from Old French paonier infantryman, from paon _pawn ²; see also _peon ¹

Example Sentences

But it was further pioneering technology, involving the extraction of DNA from human bones, that eventually matched Karen to her parents and completed the picture, revealing her identity for the first time.

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BlackBerry BB 2.31%increase; green up pointing triangle is counting on its automotive software business to power a turnaround of the onetime smartphone pioneer.

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David Hirsh, author of “Contemporary Left Antisemitism,” says that despite the absence of violence against Jews in Britain before last week, the country has always been “a pioneer in ‘anti-Zionist’ antisemitism.”

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Brown became one of the nation’s pioneering experts on the disorder, helping to shape its understanding, both in the public and medical communities.

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“Sèvres Extraordinaire!” approaches its subject—pioneering, astonishing ceramic confections that are neither purely functional nor purely decorative but sui generis art, or “sculpture”—in the broadest sense.

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