traveler

American  

[trav-uh-ler, trav-ler] / ˈtræv ə lər, ˈtræv lər /

especially British, traveller

noun

1. a person or thing that travels.

2. a person who travels or has traveled in distant places or foreign lands.

3. traveling salesman.

4. part of a mechanism constructed to move in a fixed course.

5. Textiles. (in ring spinning) a small metal device that moves rapidly around the ring and guides the yarn onto the revolving bobbin.

6. Nautical.

   1. a metal ring or thimble fitted to move freely on a rope, spar, or rod.

   2. Also called horse.  the rope, spar, or rod itself.

7. Theater. Also traveler curtain. a transverse curtain opened by being drawn from both sides of the proscenium.

8. (often initial capital letter) a member of any of a number of traditionally itinerant peoples of the British Isles and other English-speaking areas, including, in addition to people of Romani origin, Indigenous groups such as the speakers of Shelta.

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Other Word Forms

• nontraveler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of traveler

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English travaillour; see travel, -er ¹

Explanation

If you take frequent trips across the country or around the world, you are a traveler. Take a plane to Mexico, and all the other passengers are travelers, just like you. Some people travel often, for work or fun, and they are travelers. Even if you're leaving your hometown for the very first time, you're considered a traveler while you are traveling. The trick to this word is that it sounds like it should have two Ls (and in Canada and the U.K., it's spelled traveller), but in the U.S. there's only one.

Example Sentences

Jeannine Souza, a self-described bougie traveler, used to avoid Spirit because of its no-frills reputation.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

Another 2025 paper called for closer collaboration between travel medicine and tourism, reflecting a growing interest in how vacations, health risks, preventive care, and traveler well being overlap.

From Science Daily • May 4, 2026

“Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveler experience,” Expedia Group CEO Ariane Gorin said.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

The upshot, he said: “More demand, stronger pricing and a new type of traveler entering the market almost overnight.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

And so, like an underworld courier delivering a bag of ill-gotten cash, the modern traveler must steal out of Athens in the dark, and slip into Alexandria when nobody is watching.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• adventurer
• commuter
• hiker
• migrant
• passenger
• pilgrim
• sailor
• tourist