Word of the Day

: September 10, 2013

itinerant

adjective eye-TIN-uh-runt

What It Means

: traveling from place to place; especially : covering a circuit

itinerant in Context

Having worked on the band's road crew for many years, Justin had become well accustomed to the itinerant lifestyle.

"His home was often visited by itinerant performers: acrobats, dancers, trainers of performing dogs, and human 'monsters', all desperately trying to make a living by touring the country."-from Sarah Bakewell's 2010 book How to Live: A Life of Montaigne.

Did You Know?

In Latin, "iter" means "way" or "journey." That root was the parent of the Late Latin verb "itinerari," meaning "to journey." It was that verb which ultimately gave rise to today's English word for traveling types: "itinerant." The linguistic grandsire, "iter," also contributed to the development of other words in our vocabulary, including "itinerary" ("the route of a journey" and "the plan made for a journey") and "errant" ("traveling or given to traveling").