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

By 945, the Benedictine sanctuary, St. Cecilia at Montserrat, had been built, attracting Christian pilgrims by the thousands to its isolated perch 4,000 feet above a Catalan valley. —Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Jan. 2025

The tragedy unfolded early on Tuesday, Jan. 28, as thousands of Hindu pilgrims rushed to bathe in holy water while at the Maha Kumbh Mela, a festival in the Indian city of Prayagrajm, according to the Associated Press and The New York Times. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, People.com, 29 Jan. 2025

It is expected to draw up to 400 million Hindu pilgrims to the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, in what would be the world’s largest gathering. —Natasha Frost, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025

On February 27, 2002, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims home from Ayodhya caught fire in the western state of Gujarat. —Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025

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