a person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion.
pilgrims to the Holy Land.
a traveler or wanderer, especially in a foreign place.
an original settler in a region.
(initial capital letter) one of the band of Puritans who founded the colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620.
a newcomer to a region or place, especially to the western U.S.
a person who undertakes a journey to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion
any wayfarer
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
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The city's many pilgrim tour companies sit idle.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
Every person is a pilgrim on their own grief journey.
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026
Historians can argue otherwise, but not “convincingly” for this pilgrim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
An avid researcher armed with a camera, Enriquez is both reporter and pilgrim.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
Following closely behind them perhaps there would have strode a professional pilgrim, supporting himself on a stout knobbed staff shod like an alpenstock and weighed down with blessed medals, relics, shells, vernicles and so forth.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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
The government has also announced investment in hospitals including the Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, which will receive £7m for work on its electrical systems and fire safety.
From BBC ● May 31, 2025
Malibu 78, Pilgrim 72: Dylan Goosen had 36 points in the overtime win.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
In the 1860s, when the Pilgrim story was fully enshrined as one of the pillars of capital-H History, Thanksgiving became a national holiday.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2024
Billy Pilgrim went to sleep, woke up as a widower in his empty home in Ilium.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
His mausoleum, which dates to the 9th Century and has a towering golden dome and minarets, is visited by millions of pilgrims each year.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
The heat was unrelenting, but there were some shoppers, pilgrims and tourists around - and the vendors said they'd set up shops in the hope of finding some customers.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
On Tuesday, pilgrims prayed atop Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his last sermon.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
After this final ceremony, the pilgrims return to Mecca for a last circumambulation of the Kaaba, the cuboid building at the heart of the Grand Mosque towards which Muslims turn when they pray.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
I did not know how to start a blaze without glowing coals, so I relied on kindly pilgrims to let me warm myself at their fires.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
