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pilgrim

Etymology and origin of the English word pilgrim

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From
Old French peligrin

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɪlɡɹɪm/[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English pilegrim, pelegrim,[2][3][4] from Old French peligrin, pelerin,[5][2][3][6] from Late Latin pelegrinus,[5][3][6][4] a dissimilated form of Latin peregrinus (“foreigner, stranger”),[5][2][3][6][4] from peregrē “from abroad”, from per- “beyond” and ager “field, country”.[2][3][6] The final -m appears to be a Germanic modification.[2][3] It is related to peregrine.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A traveller or wayfarer, and a person who journeys to a holy place as an act of devotion (c. 1200).[7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of a traveller or wanderer is now poetic or rhetorical,[7] while the religious sense has remained the main one.[5][6][4] The English Puritans who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620 sometimes called themselves pilgrims from about 1630, after Hebrews 11:13;[3][7] the phrase Pilgrim Fathers is attested by 1799.[2][3] In the American West the word meant an original settler (1841) and later a newcomer or tenderfoot.[3][7][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – a traveller; a pilgrim to a holy place.[7][3]
  • about 1275 – pilgrimage.[2]
  • 1561 – verb, to go on pilgrimage.[7]
  • c. 1630 – the Plymouth colonists.[7][3]
  • 1799 – Pilgrim Fathers.[2][3]
  • 1841 – an original settler; a newcomer.[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or holy place.
  2. A person who sets out on a quest for something thought of as sacred.
  3. A traveller or wayfarer.
  4. (capitalized) One of the English Separatists who founded Plymouth Colony in New England in 1620.
  5. A newcomer to a region, especially the American West.

Word family

  • pilgrimage

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pilgrim.” Etymologically, 14 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pilgrim. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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