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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

Etymology

Origin of pioneer

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

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

Ramírez was an unlikely pioneer of Palestinian radicalism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

A quick search through social media tells you that the 85-year-old is "a pioneer", "brilliant" and the "grand dame of autism research".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

BioNTech, a former pioneer of mRNA cancer vaccines, was part of a broad rally Wednesday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Helmed by Barbara Burrell, Sky’s Gourmet Tacos helped pioneer a soulful approach to Mexican food that has since spread to Black-owned restaurants across Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 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

A year earlier, Exxon closed its $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, also for stock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental conflict expert at Dutch peace organisation PAX, also believes the visual evidence points to the Minoan Pioneer as the source of the oil.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

The 2006 team went 11-1, won the Pioneer League, and Harbaugh was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented to the top coach in the FCS.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

In Massachusetts, the right-leaning Pioneer Institute has recently issued a brief calling for the adoption of policies to encourage the construction of smaller and less expensive “starter” homes.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

The corn seed we were planting looked like regular kernels of corn, but it was actually something called Pioneer Hi-Bred 34H31.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Known as 'vacuum birefringence', the phenomenon was predicted nearly 90 years ago by Werner Heisenberg, one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

Delta and United have been among the pioneers of segmentation in economy, and they’ve also focused on attracting richer flyers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

It said the site was also "the birthplace of future UK science pioneers", as it welcomed "more than 25,000 schoolchildren every year".

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

The duo were pioneers of the aerobics craze that gripped the nation during that decade and helped create the National Aerobic Championship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

He was celebrated at the time for these marvelous concepts—and then much later as one of the computer’s great pioneers.

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

Enviva pioneered the business of pressing sawdust into cylindrical capsules and shipping boatloads of them to overseas power plants looking to burn an alternative to coal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

To develop Shaheds, Iran employed a design pioneered by the U.S. and West Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

For the nonprofit, which pioneered the concept years ago, understanding the community need is vital and programming varies widely across its 19 school district partners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Before radio astronomy was pioneered by people like Lovell, most observatories used visible light to detect objects in space.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

To this day, neutron therapy as pioneered by the cyclotroneers in 1938 remains an important part of the arsenal against certain cancers, including those of the prostate and salivary glands.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

"Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry," it said.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

In response, Arcadia officials this month began what they say is a pioneering effort to determine how to protect local municipalities from influence by foreign governments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

About 20 years ago, laboratory scientist Jon Eggert and his colleagues carried out pioneering experiments on diamond melting at high pressure.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Following in the footsteps of pioneering overseas restaurants, more domestic pastry chefs are introducing menus entirely dedicated to the dessert course.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

While the Viking biology experiments are a pioneering first effort, they hardly represent a definitive search for life on Mars.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan