pioneer

[ pahy-uh-neer ]

noun

1. a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
2. a person, group, or thing that is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or development:

   a woman who was a pioneer in cancer research;

   vehicles that were pioneers of automotive engineering.

   Synonyms: innovator, groundbreaker, trailblazer, leader

3. one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig intrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body.
4. Ecology. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.
5. Pioneer, Aerospace. one of a series of U.S. space probes that explored the solar system and transmitted scientific information to earth.
6. Pioneer, (formerly) a member of a Communist organization in the Soviet Union for children ranging in age from 10 to 16. Compare Komsomol ( def 2 ), Octobrist ( def ).

verb (used without object)

1. to act as a pioneer.

verb (used with object)

1. to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.).
2. to take part in the beginnings of; initiate:

   to pioneer an aid program.

3. to lead the way for (a group); trailblaze.

adjective

1. being the earliest, original, first of a particular kind, etc.:

   a pioneer method of adult education.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of pioneers:

   pioneer justice.

3. being a pioneer:

   a pioneer fur trader.

Pioneer

¹

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. any of a series of US spacecraft that studied the solar system, esp Pioneer 10, which made the first flyby of Jupiter (1973), and Pioneer 11, which made the first flyby of Saturn (1979)

Pioneer

²

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. a total abstainer from alcoholic drink, esp a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a society devoted to abstention

pioneer

³

/ ˌpaɪəˈnɪə /

noun

1. 1. a colonist, explorer, or settler of a new land, region, etc
   2. ( as modifier )

      a pioneer wagon

2. an innovator or developer of something new
3. military a member of an infantry group that digs entrenchments, makes roads, etc
4. ecology the first species of plant or animal to colonize an area of bare ground

verb

1. to be a pioneer (in or of)
2. tr to initiate, prepare, or open up

   to pioneer a medical programme

Word History and Origins

Origin of pioneer¹

First recorded in 1515–25; from Middle French pionier, Old French peonier “foot soldier”; peon ¹, -eer

Word History and Origins

Origin of pioneer¹

C16: from Old French paonier infantryman, from paon pawn ²; see also peon ¹

Example Sentences

Boston Dynamics is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of animal-like robots.

From Washington Post

Following Hyundai acquisition, Boston Dynamics’ CEO discusses the robotics pioneer’s future

From TechCrunch

Since then, Wahl has been a trimmer technology pioneer, creating the first cordless rechargeable hair clipper in 1967, the first cordless beard and mustache trimmer in 1975, and the first vacuuming consumer beard trimmer in 2001.

From Popular-Science

In addition, mRNA could in the future be used, as BioNTech and Moderna are pioneering, to fight cancer.

From Time

These characteristics are exactly the kind of attributes the SETI scientists have been looking for since the astronomer Frank Drake first began the pioneering initiative some 60 years ago.

From Singularity Hub 

Peter Christopherson made the leap to life on the bandstand and became a pioneer in the industrial music genre.

From The Daily Beast

His great-grandfather, David Yellin, was a prominent Zionist scholar and Israeli pioneer.

From The Daily Beast

The first pioneer to reach the riparian tributary where Kansas City now shimmers was, in fact, on the lam himself.

From The Daily Beast

Carver was an agricultural and industrial pioneer—in more ways than one.

From The Daily Beast

And when he died, another agricultural pioneer was just starting to bring research to bear on food production.

From The Daily Beast

Hamo in alluding to the early cultivation of tobacco by the colony, says, that John Rolfe was the pioneer tobacco planter.

From Project Gutenberg

Samuel Dale, an eminent pioneer in the settlement of the southwest, died in Lauderdale county, Mississippi.

From Project Gutenberg

Roosevelt was also the pioneer in using electro-pneumatic action here.

From Project Gutenberg

His high-pressure steam-engine was the pioneer of locomotion and its wide-spreading civilization.

From Project Gutenberg

Such is the story of a pioneer enterprise, that of the use of submarine vessels as commerce carriers.

From Project Gutenberg