pilgrim

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɪlɡɹɪm/ See IPA manual

Freq #13347

Meanings

1

noun
A person who travels to a holy place for religious reasons.

Thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine every year.
2

verb
To travel to a holy place for religious reasons.

For centuries, the faithful have pilgrimed to this sacred mountain.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms pilgrims

Derived forms bepilgrimednonpilgrimpilgrimagepilgrimdompilgrimesspilgrimhoodpilgrimizepilgrimlesspilgrimlikepilgrimwise

Simplified etymology

Pilgrim was one of the earliest French words borrowed into English, arriving just after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It ultimately goes back to Latin peregrinus, meaning “foreign” or “alien.”

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English pilegrim, from Old English pilegrī̆m, from Old French pelegrin, from Latin peregrīnus (“foreigner”). Doublet of peregrine. The change of /r…r/ to /l…r/ is an effect of dissimilation in early Romance; compare Italian pellegrino.

pilegrim Middle English pilegrī̆m Old English pelegrin Old French peregrīnus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# pilgrim

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɪlɡɹɪm/
**Frequency rank:** 13347

## Meanings
1. A person who travels to a holy place for religious reasons.
2. To travel to a holy place for religious reasons.

## Examples
- Thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine every year.
- For centuries, the faithful have pilgrimed to this sacred mountain.

## Derived Forms
- bepilgrimed
- nonpilgrim
- pilgrimage
- pilgrimdom
- pilgrimess
- pilgrimhood
- pilgrimize
- pilgrimless
- pilgrimlike
- pilgrimwise

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pilegrim
- Root: pilegrī̆m
- Root: pelegrin
- Root: peregrīnus

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English pilegrim, from Old English pilegrī̆m, from Old French pelegrin, from Latin peregrīnus (“foreigner”). Doublet of peregrine. The change of /r…r/ to /l…r/ is an effect of dissimilation in early Romance; compare Italian pellegrino.

## AI Etymology
Pilgrim is inherited from Middle English pilegrim, from Old English pilegrī̆m, from Old French pelegrin, from Latin peregrīnus (“foreigner”). Doublet of peregrine. The change of /r…r/ to /l…r/ is an effect of dissimilation in early Romance; compare Italian pellegrino. In present-day English it covers a person who travels to a holy place for religious reasons and to travel to a holy place for religious reasons. The wider family includes derived forms such as bepilgrimed, nonpilgrim, pilgrimage, pilgrimdom, pilgrimess.

## Topics
- People & Society

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