voyageur

American  

[vwah-yah-zhur, voi-uh-, vwa-ya-zhœr] / ˌvwɑ yɑˈʒɜr, ˌvɔɪ ə-, vwa yaˈʒœr /

noun

voyageurs plural

1. (in Canada) a person who is an expert woodsman, boatman, and guide in remote regions, especially one employed by fur companies to transport supplies to and from their distant stations.

---

voyageur British  

/ ˌvɔɪəˈdʒɜː /

noun

1. history a boatman employed by one of the early fur-trading companies, esp in the interior

2. a woodsman, guide, trapper, boatman, or explorer, esp in the North

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• voyageurs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of voyageur

1785–95; < French: traveler, equivalent to voyag ( er ) to travel (derivative of voyage journey; see voyage) + -eur -eur

Example Sentences

The murals depict a voyageur, a steamboat captain, a railroad surveyor and a laborer, all of them white.

From Washington Times • Nov. 28, 2018

They joined a six-person team that won the voyageur canoe category in the 444-mile Yukon River Quest endurance race last summer.

From Washington Times • Sep. 6, 2014

Together, we hatched a big, burly, river trip in the voyageur style.

From Time Magazine Archive

He and his voyageur crew had just dragged their sled of furs across from the mainland, and were staying for the night.

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich

Perhaps it was pure sociability—the desire of a bit of a “talky-talk” with the green-boated voyageur.

From Down the Columbia by Freeman, Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome)