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Definition of pilgrim - 3 dictionary results

pil⋅grim

  [pil-grim, -gruhm]
Use pilgrim in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who journeys, esp. a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion: pilgrims to the Holy Land.
2. a traveler or wanderer, esp. in a foreign place.
3. an original settler in a region.
4. (initial capital letter) one of the band of Puritans who founded the colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620.
5. a newcomer to a region or place, esp. to the western U.S.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME pilegrim, pelegrim, c. OFris pilegrīm, MLG pelegrīm, OHG piligrīm, ON pīlagrīmr, all < ML pelegrīnus, dissimilated var. of L peregrīnus peregrine

Related forms:
pil⋅gri⋅mat⋅ic, pil⋅gri⋅mat⋅i⋅cal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pilgrim
pil·grim   (pĭl'grəm)   
n.  

  1. A religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or sacred place.

  2. One who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred.

  3. A traveler.

  4. Pilgrim One of the English Separatists who founded the colony of Plymouth in New England in 1620.


[Middle English, from Old French peligrin, from Late Latin pelegrīnus, alteration of Latin peregrīnus, foreigner; see peregrine.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pilgrim 
c.1200, pilegrim, from O.Fr. pelegrin (11c.), from L. peregrinus "foreigner," from peregre (adv.) "from abroad," from per- "beyond" + agri, locative case of ager "country" (see acre). Change of first -r- to -l- in Romance languages by dissimilation. Pilgrimage is c.1250. Pilgrim Fathers "English Puritans who founded Plymouth colony" is first found 1799 (they called themselves Pilgrims from c.1630, in allusion to Heb. xi.13).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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