Pilgrim and Peregrine Falcon Share a Root
A pilgrim travels to a sacred place. The Latin word means a foreigner or wanderer, which also named a famously far-ranging bird.
A pilgrim is someone who journeys to a holy place. The Latin *peregrinus* meant a foreigner or a traveller through fields, and it gave English two very different words: *pilgrim* and *peregrine*, the falcon named for its wandering habits.
- Someone travelling to a sacred place. *Pilgrims on the road to Santiago.*
- A traveller (literary). *A pilgrim in a strange land.*
- Pilgrims — the English settlers of Plymouth, 1620. *The Pilgrims landed in November.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pilgrim | A weary pilgrim. |
| Plural | pilgrims | Thousands of pilgrims. |
| Noun | pilgrimage | Making a pilgrimage. |
| Related | peregrine | A peregrine falcon. |
| Related | shrine | A roadside shrine. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Pilgrims walk the route in stages.The Camino takes weeks.
- He made a pilgrimage to the stadium.Figurative: a journey of devotion.
- The peregrine is the fastest animal alive.In its hunting dive.
Famous pilgrimages
- Hajj — to Mecca, required once of able Muslims
- Camino de Santiago — to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
- Kumbh Mela — a vast Hindu gathering held in rotation
- Canterbury — the English route Chaucer's pilgrims took
- Shikoku pilgrimage — a circuit of eighty-eight temples in Japan
From Old French *pelerin*, from Latin *peregrinus*, foreign, from *per*, through, and *ager*, field. The *l* in the English form comes from a common shift between r and l.
Why is the falcon called peregrine?
Because young birds were taken while wandering rather than from the nest, and the species ranges enormously. The name means wanderer.
Who were the Pilgrims?
English separatists who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 and settled at Plymouth in what is now Massachusetts.