itinerant

adjective itin·er·ant \ ī-ˈti-nə-rənt \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of itinerant

: traveling from place to place; especially : covering a circuit

itinerant preacher

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itinerant

noun

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itinerantly

adverb

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Examples of itinerant in a Sentence

an itinerant musician can see a lot of the world

Recent Examples of itinerant from the Web

And according to the family lore, Bill, then an itinerant worker, rode the rails to Boston and slept on a pool table the night before the race.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Independents cool on Democratic Congress," 16 Apr. 2018
Simmons, born in 1880 on a farm in Harpersville, Ala., was an itinerant Methodist minister.

— the washington post, AL.com, "An Alabama-born preacher helped revive the KKK in 1915," 10 Apr. 2018
Saint-Exupéry biographer Stacy Schiff wrote of the emotional connection between the expatriate author and his itinerant prince.

— sam spengler, Smithsonian, "The Beloved Classic Novel “The Little Prince” Turns 75 Years Old," 3 Apr. 2018
But my grandfather’s generation worked as fruit tramps — seasonal itinerant labor — and my parents had seven kids on a budget that barely supported a couple.

— kerry lengel, azcentral, "Why I'm going to keep watching 'Roseanne' and 'problematic pop culture'," 1 Apr. 2018
The book’s hero spends decades wrestling with the teachings of his father, who, like Upp, became an itinerant preacher.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "How a Young Woman Lost Her Identity," 26 Mar. 2018
Certain regions, like Savoie in France and the area today belonging to Poland and Ukraine, produced large numbers of itinerant musicians — often blind — who played for a few coins.

— corinna da fonseca-wollheim, New York Times, "A Renaissance for an Instrument of Melancholy Magic," 23 Feb. 2018
Steinem grew up in Ohio and spent much of her early years traveling with her father Leo, an itinerant salesman, and mother Ruth.

— donna larcen, courant.com, "Talking With Gloria Steinem: YWCA's Keynote Speaker On Women And Activism," 20 Mar. 2018
The original vision saw the hall as a brick-and-mortar interpretation of a farmers’ market: a permanent home for itinerant artisans, growers and producers.

— paolo lucchesi, San Francisco Chronicle, "Does the Ferry Building still reflect the Bay Area’s food culture?," 9 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'itinerant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In Latin, iter means "way" or "journey." That root was the parent of the Late Latin verb itinerari, meaning "to journey." It was that verb which ultimately gave rise to today's English word for traveling types: "itinerant." The linguistic grandsire, "iter," also contributed to the development of other words in our vocabulary, including "itinerary" ("the route of a journey" and "the plan made for a journey") and "errant" ("traveling or given to traveling").

Origin and Etymology of itinerant

Late Latin itinerant-, itinerans, present participle of itinerari to journey, from Latin itiner-, iter journey, way; akin to Hittite itar way, Latin ire to go — more at issue

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1576

See Words from the same year