Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pilgrim” come from?

Pilgrim comes from Middle English pilegrim, from Old French pelegrin, from Latin peregrinus meaning "foreign" or "traveling abroad," formed with the Latin suffix -inus.

pilgrim (English): One who travels, especially on a journey to visit...

Definitions

  1. One who travels, especially on a journey to visit...

Ancestry of “pilgrim”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpilegrimpilgrim
2Old Frenchpelerinpilgrim; foreigner; foreign
3Ecclesiastical Latinpelegrinus—
4Latinperegrīnus—
5Latin-īnus—
6Proto-Italic-īnosof/belonging to
7Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
8Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “pilgrim”

  • pilgrimess
  • pilgrimize
  • bepilgrimed
  • nonpilgrim
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →