pilgrim Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone who journeys in foreign lands
  2. noun one of the colonists from England who sailed to America on the Mayflower and founded the colony of Plymouth in New England in 1620
    Pilgrim Father.
  3. noun someone who journeys to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion

WordNet

Pil"grim noun
Etymology
OE. pilgrim, pelgrim, pilegrim, pelegrim; cf. D. pelgrim, OHG. piligrim, G. pilger, F. pèlerin, It. pellegrino; all fr. L. peregrinus a foreigner, fr. pereger abroad; per through + ager land, field. See Per-, and Acre, and cf. Pelerine, Peregrine.
Definitions
  1. A wayfarer; a wanderer; a traveler; a stranger.
    Strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Heb. xi. 13.
  2. One who travels far, or in strange lands, to visit some holy place or shrine as a devotee; as, a pilgrim to Loretto; Canterbury pilgrims. See Palmer. P. Plowman.
Pil"grim adjective
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to a pilgrim, or pilgrims; making pilgrimages. "With pilgrim steps." Milton.
Pil"grim intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To journey; to wander; to ramble. R. Grew. Carlyle.

Webster 1913