pioneer

(pī'ə-nîr')
n.

1. One who ventures into unknown or unclaimed territory to settle.
2. One who opens up new areas of thought, research, or development: a pioneer in aviation.
3. A soldier who performs construction and demolition work in the field to facilitate troop movements.
4. Ecology. An animal or plant species that establishes itself in a previously barren environment.

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of early settlers: the pioneer spirit.
2. Leading the way; trailblazing: a pioneer treatment for cancer.

v., -neered, -neer·ing, -neers.

v.tr.

1. 1. To open up (an area) or prepare (a way): rockets that pioneered outer space.
   2. To settle (a region).
2. To initiate or participate in the development of: surgeons who pioneered organ transplants.

v.intr.
To act as a pioneer: pioneered in development of the laser.

[French pionnier, from Old French peonier, foot soldier, from peon, from Medieval Latin pedō, pedōn-, from Late Latin, one who has broad feet, from Latin pēs, ped-, foot.]

View more Science videos

noun

A person instrumental in the growth of something, especially in its early stages: builder, contributor, creator, developer. See make/unmake.

adjective

Preceding all others in time: earliest, first, initial, maiden, original, primary, prime, primordial. See start/end.

adj

Definition: early, first
Antonyms: following, last, late, later

Origin: 1817

America did not have pioneers until the nineteenth century. Or rather, for the first two centuries of English-speaking North America, the word pioneers meant something quite different than "people who settled the wilderness." In England, and in the American colonies, pioneer was a military term. Pioneers were laborers who went in advance of armies. They paved the way by clearing paths, building roads, and digging trenches. A South Carolina historian in 1741 wrote of an unsuccessful siege of St. Augustine, Florida, earlier in that century, involving "800 pioneers (Negroes or White Men), with Tools Sufficient for that number of men, Such as Spades, Hoes, Axes and Hatchets to Dig Trenches."

These pioneers did unglamorous grunt work, but they were also the ones in front, clearing the way for others. So when a nineteenth-century writer applied the word pioneers to the early land-clearing settlers in a new region, it caught on. Timothy Dwight, writing about his travels in New England and New York in 1817, said, "A considerable part of those, who begin the cultivation of the wilderness, may be denominated foresters, or Pioneers." And so they were throughout the rest of that century, as pioneers transformed the width of the continent into settled territory.

Pioneers in this sense are now historical or literary memories, as in novels like Willa Cather's O Pioneers! (1913). We (and the English) now apply the word to one who is first in discovery, exploration, or achievement in any field, especially science and medicine. But we also recall the nineteenth-century meaning with "pioneer days" in communities that were settled during a century of westward migration.

---

Pioneer is a word with a complex military etymology. It has the same Latin root as peon, meaning a humble labourer and also pawn with its implication of expendability, but by the 17th century the full word meant one who goes ahead and prepares the way for others, not necessarily in the military context, and who is worthy of honour. Very broadly speaking, in most armies the low-status pioneers, sometimes not even regarded as soldiers, did the work and the engineers got the credit. To confuse things further, there is the intermediate category of sappers to be considered. Although the separately named functions only came much later, there is a hint of things to come in the Roman army, where all legionnaires dug, ditched, built roads, ramps, and ramparts, directed on occasion by mensores (surveyors) and even artifices qui fossam faciunt (ditch-digging specialists).

In the British army a Royal Pioneer Corps was raised in 1762 but disbanded the following year. By contrast the Corps of Royal Engineers was founded in 1787 and has existed ever since. The WW I non-combatant Labour Corps for conscientious objectors and others not judged fit to be killed in the front lines was also known as the pioneers and was disbanded in 1919. In 1939 a similar Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps was formed, like its predecessor explicitly to free soldiers for front-line duties. Simply the Pioneer Corps by 1940, it finally regained the ‘Royal’ prefix in 1946 and four years later ceased to be classified as an auxiliary force and became part of the regular establishment. In 1993 it was amalgamated with the Royal Corps of Transport, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, and the Army Catering Corps to form the Royal Logistics Corps. The Royal Pioneer Corps' motto was ‘Labor Omnia Vincit’ meaning ‘work conquers all’—except, that is, the professional snobbery of the engineers. This distinction was even more pronounced in the land of the free, where engineers traditionally were the crème de la crème of the US army. The Navy Construction Battalions (Seabees), on the other hand, were combat pioneers in the highest and most honourable sense of the word.

The German army was somewhat less troubled by these social nuances, and pioneers had an active combat role. In the USSR, the Young Pioneers were the shock troops of the Komsomol, the party youth organization, devoted to spying on their family, friends, and neighbours. An ambivalent word, best left alone.

— Chris Mann/Hugh Bicheno

n. a member of an infantry group preparing roads or terrain for the main body of troops.

v.

open up (a road or terrain) as a pioneer.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

IN BRIEF: One among the first to explore a country. Also: A person who goes before, opening up the way for others to follow, as an early settler or a scientist doing original work.

Galileo called doubt the father of invention; it is certainly the pioneer. — Christian Bovee (1820-1904)

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to pioneer, see:

• Respectful or Admiring Reference

---

See words rhyming with "pioneer."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Pioneer.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - pioner, foregangsmand, nybygger
v. tr. - pionere, bane vej for
v. intr. - være banebrydende
adj. - pioner-

Nederlands (Dutch)
voortrekker, geniesoldaat, ontdekkingsreizi- ger/ kolonist, als eerste iets doen/ontwikkelen, een voortrekkersrol hebben, de weg bereiden (voor anderen), oorspronkelijk, pioniers-

Français (French)
n. - pionnier
v. tr. - mettre au point, être le premier à
v. intr. - être le premier à, être pionnier dans
adj. - novateur, de pionnier, de pionniers

Deutsch (German)
n. - Pionier, Wegbereiter
v. - Pionierarbeit leisten, den Weg bahnen
adj. - Pionier...

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πρωτοπόρος, σκαπανέας, πιονιέρος
v. - προπορεύομαι, ανοίγω/χαράσσω νέους δρόμους

Italiano (Italian)
pioniere, innovatore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pioneiro (m)
v. - desbravar, abrir caminho

Русский (Russian)
пионер, первооткрыватель, прокладывать путь

Español (Spanish)
n. - pionero, colonizador, explorador
v. tr. - explorar, abrir nuevos caminos
v. intr. - actuar como explorador, pionero o colonizador
adj. - relativo a los pioneros, calidad de pionero en algo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - pionjär, föregångsman, ingenjörsoldat
v. - bana väg, gå före, vara pionjär

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
先锋, 开辟者, 拓荒者, 开辟, 倡导, 当先驱, 成为开拓者, 最早的, 先驱的, 开拓的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 先鋒, 開闢者, 拓荒者
v. tr. - 開闢, 倡導
v. intr. - 當先驅, 成為開拓者
adj. - 最早的, 先驅的, 開拓的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 개척자, (선발) 공병
v. tr. - (미개지를) 개척하다, (도로 따위를) 건설하다, 주창하다
v. intr. - ~의 개척자가 되다, 솔선하다
adj. - 초기의 , 개척자의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 開拓者, 先駆者, 工兵, ピオネール, パイオニア
v. - 開拓する, 先駆者となる
adj. - 初期の, 開拓者の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) رائد, ممهد, مهندس, ملحق بوحدة عسكريه, ريادي (فعل) يبدع شيء ما, يشارك في تطوير شيء جديد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חלוץ‬
v. tr. - ‮פילס, יזם, סלל‬
v. intr. - ‮נחלץ, עבר כחלוץ‬
adj. - ‮חלוצי, הראשון ש-‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.