itinerant
adjective
itin·er·ant
ī-ˈti-nə-rənt 
: traveling from place to place
especially
: covering a circuit
itinerant preacher
itinerant
noun
itinerantly
adverb
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 the English word for traveling types: itinerant. The linguistic grandparent, iter, also contributed to the development of other English words, including itinerary ("the route of a journey" and "the plan made for a journey") and errant ("traveling or given to traveling," as in knight-errant).
Examples of itinerant in a Sentence
an itinerant musician can see a lot of the world
Recent Examples on the Web
The protagonist, McTeague (Gibson Gowland) is a scuffling American naïf, a California miner who, seeking better prospects, learns dentistry from an itinerant practitioner and, without any formal qualifications, starts a practice in San Francisco.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2026
At the time of the fatwa, Gibney’s movie shows, Rushdie went into a kind of itinerant hiding in England, ferried by intelligence services from location to location.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 16 Jan. 2026
Weir’s friendship with the itinerant folk singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott began in the early 1960s, and in the new millennium, Elliott and Weir frequently performed low-key shows together in Marin County, where both resided.
—Erin Osmon, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
The itinerant Friend’s spectacular style drew a steady drumbeat of new followers, many of them well-to-do merchants.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for itinerant
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Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2026
At the time of the fatwa, Gibney’s movie shows, Rushdie went into a kind of itinerant hiding in England, ferried by intelligence services from location to location.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 16 Jan. 2026
Weir’s friendship with the itinerant folk singer Ramblin’ Jack Elliott began in the early 1960s, and in the new millennium, Elliott and Weir frequently performed low-key shows together in Marin County, where both resided.
—Erin Osmon, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026
The itinerant Friend’s spectacular style drew a steady drumbeat of new followers, many of them well-to-do merchants.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for itinerant
Cite this Entry
“Itinerant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/itinerant. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
itinerant
adjective
itin·er·ant
ī-ˈtin-ə-rənt
ə-ˈtin-
: traveling from place to place
an itinerant preacher
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