itinerant

[ ahy-tin-er-uhnt, ih-tin- ]

adjective

1. traveling from place to place, especially on a circuit, as a minister, judge, or sales representative; itinerating; journeying.

   Synonyms: peripatetic, roving, unsettled, migratory, nomadic, wandering

   Antonyms: settled

2. characterized by such traveling:

   itinerant preaching.

3. working in one place for a comparatively short time and then moving on to work in another place, usually as a physical or outdoor laborer; characterized by alternating periods of working and wandering:

   an itinerant farm hand.

   Synonyms: peripatetic, roving, unsettled, migratory, nomadic, wandering

noun

1. a person who alternates between working and wandering.
2. a person who travels from place to place, especially for duty or business.

itinerant

/ ɪˈtɪnərənt; aɪ- /

adjective

1. itinerating
2. working for a short time in various places, esp as a casual labourer

noun

1. an itinerant worker or other person

Derived Forms

• iˈtinerantly, adverb

Other Words From

• i·tiner·ant·ly adverb
• uni·tiner·ant adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of itinerant¹

1560–70; < Late Latin itinerant- (stem of itinerāns ), present participle of itinerārī to journey, equivalent to itiner- (stem of iter ) journey ( iter ) + -ant- -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of itinerant¹

C16: from Late Latin itinerārī to travel, from iter a journey

Example Sentences

But all of them have spent long stretches living out of their vans, even after they decided to give up the itinerant life of a hard-core traveling climber and tried to put down roots.

From Los Angeles Times

Greenwald is an itinerant, old-school muckraker, working with small crews, sometimes only himself, to tell stories of oppression and threats to democracy from those who often are not heard.

From Los Angeles Times

Some had their own churches; others, like Wallnau, served as itinerant preachers, taking messages to multiple congregations, as well as to TV and social media.

From Slate

Their star striker, Lu Jinfu, the son of itinerant labourers, has just finished high school.

From BBC

The man is an “itinerant” worker who had travelled to Australia repeatedly since 2019 and had addresses in both New South Wales and Victoria.

From BBC

Related Words

• nomadic
• peripatetic
• roving
• wandering