pilgrim

noun

pil·​grim ˈpil-grəm 

1

: one who journeys in foreign lands : wayfarer

2

: one who travels to a shrine or holy place as a devotee

3

capitalized : one of the English colonists settling at Plymouth in 1620

Examples of pilgrim in a Sentence

Thousands of Muslim pilgrims traveled to Mecca.

Recent Examples on the Web

The complexity of Cuba was also on display as many of the pilgrims are believers in Santería, an offshoot of the Yoruba religion brought to Cuba more than 200 years ago by African slaves. —Patrick Oppmann, CNN, 19 Dec. 2024

Thousands of Iranian Shiite pilgrims came to the shrine each year. —Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Dec. 2024

The Lucky Ones, Zara Chowdhary As a teenager in 2002, Zara Chowdhary was living in India when a train fire in Godhra killed dozens of Hindu pilgrims. —Annabel Gutterman, TIME, 10 Dec. 2024

These daily liturgies, open to diverse groups from local parishioners to international pilgrims, emphasize Notre Dame's role as a unifying spiritual hub. —Thomas Adamson and Sylvie Corbet The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French pelerin, pilegrin, from Late Latin pelegrinus, alteration of Latin peregrinus foreigner, from peregrinus, adjective, foreign, from peregri abroad, from per through + agr-, ager land — more at for, acre

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing pilgrim

• pilgrim bottle

Kids Definition

pilgrim

noun

pil·​grim ˈpil-grəm 

1

: one who journeys in foreign lands : traveler

2

: a person who travels to a shrine or holy place to worship

3

capitalized : one of the English colonists who founded the first permanent settlement in New England at Plymouth in 1620