- pioneer (in/of something) a person who is the first to study and develop a particular area of knowledge, culture, etc. that other people then continue to develop synonym trailblazer
- a pioneer in the field of microsurgery
- a computer pioneer
- a pioneer aviator
- a pioneer design (= one that introduces new ideas, methods, etc.)
Extra Examples- one of the early pioneers in plastic surgery
- He is known as a pioneer in veterinary surgery.
- He was one of the pioneers in opening up archaeology to everyone.
- I was lucky to meet the heart transplant pioneer, Dr Christian Barnard.
- Modern guitar design owes a lot to the pioneer designs of the forties and fifties.
- She later became a pioneer of education for women.
- The school was an early pioneer of the technique.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- early
- true
- spirit
- pioneer in
- pioneer of
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- one of the first people to go to a particular place, especially in order to live and work there
- Early pioneers settled on both sides of the Maple River.
- the pioneer spirit
- The history of our nation isn't just about hardy pioneers and peaceful settlement, it's about violence and dispossession.
- The space pioneer became the oldest person to go into space at the age of 82.
Word Originearly 16th cent. (as a military term denoting a member of the infantry): from French pionnier ‘foot soldier, pioneer’, Old French paonier, from paon, from Latin pedo, pedon- ‘foot soldier’, from Latin pes, ped- ‘foot’.
Check pronunciation:
pioneer