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voyager

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Etymology and origin of the English word voyager

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing, Derivation
First attested
1477 Caxton, History of Jason
Borrowed from
Old French voyagier
Ultimate origin
Latin via
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English voyage
English voyager

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈvɔɪɪdʒə(r)/, /ˈvɔɪədʒə(r)/[1]
  • US: /ˈvɔɪɪdʒɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French voyagier,[2] which the OED also gives as veaigier and voyager (modern voyageur); the OED allows that it may instead have been formed from English voyage + -er.[3] Johnson (1755) derived it from the French voyageur.[4] The French noun comes from voiage (“journey, travel”),[2] the source of voyage, from Late Latin viāticum (“a journey”), in classical Latin provisions for a journey,[2][3] from viāticus (“of a journey”), from via (“road, journey”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who journeys; a traveller by land: 1477, in Caxton's translation of R. Le Fèvre's History of Jason.[3] Etymonline dates the word to the late 15th century and notes that in early Modern English it meant especially one who travels over seas.[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a traveller in general, and about 1500 the word was also used of a knight errant.[3] By 1622, in Drayton's Poly-Olbion, it meant one who goes on a voyage by sea,[3] and Johnson (1755) defined it only as one who travels by sea.[4] Figurative uses followed from 1698,[3] and the word was later used of travellers through the air.[2] In American drug slang of about 1969 a voyager was someone under the influence of LSD, on a "trip".[5] Voyager is also the name of the two American spacecraft launched in 1977 to study the outer planets.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1477 – a traveller by land.[3]
  • c. 1500 – a knight errant (obsolete).[3]
  • 1622 – one who goes on a sea voyage; a navigator.[3]
  • 1698 – figurative uses.[3]
  • 1969 – slang, a person under the influence of LSD.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who makes a voyage or voyages, especially by sea or into space; a traveller or navigator: The voyagers sighted land after six weeks at sea.[7][3][4]
  2. (slang) A person under the influence of LSD.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  5. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Voyager.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/voyager. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·