pioneer
[pahy-uh-neer]
- a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
- one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress: pioneers in cancer research.
- one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig intrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body.
- Ecology. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.
- (initial capital letter) Aerospace. one of a series of U.S. space probes that explored the solar system and transmitted scientific information to earth.
- (initial capital letter) (formerly) a member of a Communist organization in the Soviet Union for children ranging in age from 10 to 16.Compare Komsomol, Octobrist.
Show More
- to act as a pioneer.
Show More
- to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.).
- to take part in the beginnings of; initiate: to pioneer an aid program.
- to lead the way for (a group); guide.
Show More
- being the earliest, original, first of a particular kind, etc.: a pioneer method of adult education.
- of, relating to, or characteristic of pioneers: pioneer justice.
- being a pioneer: a pioneer fur trader.
Show More
Origin of pioneer
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
begindeveloppreparestartinstitutecreateoriginatediscoverlaunchinitiateexplorespearheadcolonizefoundestablishinstigatetrailblazeExamples from the Web for pioneered
Contemporary Examples
Ragtime, blues, country, jazz, soul, and rock and roll were all pioneered or inspired by black artists.
They pioneered arena performances and electric light, enabling the first night performances.
Noyce and his partner Gordon Moore also pioneered a new corporate culture at Intel.
Walter Isaacson’s ‘The Innovators’: How a Gaggle of Geeks Invented the FutureWendy Smith
October 7, 2014
When Musk decided he want to make electric cars, he was confronting the world that Ford had pioneered.
Blood transfusions on the battlefield, pioneered by Canadian doctor Norman Bethune in the Spanish Civil War, saved many lives.
Historical Examples
He pioneered the ancestors of almost every family in this vicinage to this place.
The Memories of Fifty YearsWilliam H. Sparks
We were met by others who had pioneered the way before us and they looked after our group until we learned the ropes.
In the CardsAlan Cogan
Soon, all—gendarmes and light horse—Huguenots and Catholics—rushed along the road, pioneered by the two brothers.
The Forty-Five GuardsmenAlexandre Dumas
Learning from a trader of the game and rich pastures of Kentucky, he pioneered the way for the farmers to that region.
The Frontier in American HistoryFrederick Jackson Turner
And now she was following along a track, pioneered by a clever and cunning leader.
December LoveRobert Hichens
pioneer
- a colonist, explorer, or settler of a new land, region, etc
- (as modifier)a pioneer wagon
- an innovator or developer of something new
- military a member of an infantry group that digs entrenchments, makes roads, etc
- ecology the first species of plant or animal to colonize an area of bare ground
Show More
- to be a pioneer (in or of)
- (tr) to initiate, prepare, or open upto pioneer a medical programme
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Old French paonier infantryman, from paon pawn ²; see also peon 1
Pioneer1
- a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention
Show More
Pioneer2
- 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)
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for pioneered
pioneer
n.
1520s, "foot soldier who prepares the way for the army," from Middle French pionnier "foot-soldier, pioneer," from Old French paonier "foot-soldier" (11c.), from peon (see pawn (n.2)). Figurative sense of "person who goes first or does something first" is from c.1600. Related: Pioneers.
Show More
pioneer
v.
1780, from pioneer (n.). Related: Pioneered; pioneering.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper