Word of the Day
: September 10, 2013itinerant
playWhat It Means
: traveling from place to place; especially : covering a circuit
itinerant in Context
Having worked on the band's road crew for many years, Justin had become well accustomed to the itinerant lifestyle.
"His home was often visited by itinerant performers: acrobats, dancers, trainers of performing dogs, and human 'monsters', all desperately trying to make a living by touring the country."-from Sarah Bakewell's 2010 book How to Live: A Life of Montaigne.
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").
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Test Your Memory
What former Word of the Day begins with "d" and means "to assert under oath"? The answer is …
