Meaning & use
pioneer
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who is among the first to try a new idea, method or field.
Grammar: Usually followed by in or of: a pioneer in medicine.
Patterns
- a pioneer in something
- a pioneer of something
She was a pioneer in computer science.
He is a pioneer of modern dance.
The company was a pioneer in electric cars.
nouncountable
One of the first people to settle in and develop a new region.
Grammar: Countable: early pioneers.
Patterns
- a pioneer family
- early pioneers
Pioneers crossed the plains in covered wagons.
The museum tells the story of the pioneers who settled the valley.
Her great-grandfather was a pioneer farmer.
verbtransitive
To be the first to develop, use or explore something new.
Grammar: Takes an object: pioneer a technique.
Patterns
- pioneer something
The lab pioneered a new treatment for the disease.
He pioneered the use of digital photos in journalism.
Local farmers pioneered a way to save water.
Word forms
| third person singular | pioneers |
|---|---|
| past tense | pioneered |
| past participle | pioneered |
| -ing form | pioneering |
| plural | pioneers |
Common combinations
- pioneer in the field
- She is a pioneer in the field of genetics.
- pioneer a technique
- Surgeons pioneered a safer technique.
- early pioneer
- An early pioneer of radio, he built his own set.
- pioneering work
- Her pioneering work changed medicine.
- pioneer spirit
- The pioneer spirit helped them survive the winter.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trailblazer
- Trailblazer is more dramatic and stresses opening a path others follow.
- innovator
- Innovator stresses creating new ideas, while pioneer also suggests being first to explore.
- founder
- Founder means someone who started an organization, not necessarily a new field.
- settler
- Settler refers only to someone who moves to live in a new area.
Opposites
Word family
- pioneering adjective
- introducing new ideas or methods
- pioneered verb
- past form of pioneer
- pioneer adjective
- relating to first settlers
Commonly confused: pioneer or pilgrim?
pioneer vs pilgrim
A pilgrim travels to a holy place, while a pioneer is among the first to do something new.
Practice
Marie Curie was a ___ in the study of radioactivity.
Choose one answer.
A pioneer in a field is one of the first to work in it. A pilgrim is a religious traveler, a follower comes later, and pioneering is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pioneer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.