voyageur

American  

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

noun

plural

voyageurs

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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of voyageur

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

Neither could it have been to explore their country; for the voyageur, the fur-trader, the missionary, even Champlain himself, as we have seen, had already been at their towns.

From History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet in 1634 With a Sketch of his Life by Butterfield, Consul Willshire