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).

Synonyms of itinerant

• nomadic
• nomad

Examples of itinerant in a Sentence

an itinerant musician can see a lot of the world

Recent Examples on the Web

For an itinerant director who left his native Iran in his youth to make films around the world — including in France Chile, Malaysia, Taiwan, Lithuania — and believing each country was his home while there, being suddenly picked to fly the flag for Canada is a game changer. —Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 14 Nov. 2025

The family was essentially itinerant after that, living in at least seven Tupelo locations before moving to Memphis, where Vernon hoped to find steady work rather than odd jobs. —John Beifuss, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025

Lining up Marina Abramović for any occasion takes some coordinating, but the itinerant artist broke out of her routine for a Q&A Sunday night in New York. —Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 10 Nov. 2025

In Benghazi’s Ganfuda Detention Center, dozens of young women and girls crowd the floor of a warehouse strewn with foam mattresses and the plastic-bag detritus of an itinerant life. —Mick Krever, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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 entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1576, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

itinerant

adjective

itin·​er·​ant ī-ˈtin-ə-rənt 

ə-ˈtin-

: traveling from place to place

an itinerant preacher