I. |pīə|ni(ə)r, -iə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French pionier, pionnier, from Old French peonier foot soldier, from peon, pion foot soldier (from Medieval Latin pedon-, pedo ) + -ier -er — more at pawn
1.
a. : a member of a military unit usually of engineers equipped and trained especially for road building, temporary bridging, demolitions
b. obsolete : one that excavates or undermines
2. : one that begins or helps develop something new and prepares a way for others to follow:
a. : a person or group that originates or helps open up a new line of thought or activity or a new method or technical development
broke decidedly with the prevailing theological views and became the pioneer of a new order — C.A.Dinsmore
a pioneer in oceanography
a pioneer in the development of radar
b. : one of the first to settle in a primitive territory : an early settler
3. usually capitalized : a member of the Russian Communist youth organization for boys and girls in the 10 to 16 year age group — compare komsomol , octobrist
4. : a plant or animal capable of establishing itself in a bare or barren area (as after a burn) and initiating a new ecological cycle
5. or pioneer publisher usually capitalized both Ps : a full-time worker of the Jehovah's Witnesses
II. adjective
1. : first of a kind : earliest, original
a pioneer model improved by later inventions
one of the pioneer institutions in America for the education of young women — S.P.Chase & J.K.Snyder
2. : of or relating to a pioneer ; especially : of, relating to, or characteristic of early settlers or their time
pioneer days
a pioneer village
pioneer conditions
3. : being a pioneer
settled on the frontier as a pioneer merchant
the pioneer exponent of ballet on ice — Current Biography
4. usually capitalized : of or relating to a culture in the southwestern United States about the beginning of the Christian era characterized by a squarish semisubterranean house having an entrance passage and a roof supported by four posts, the beginning of agriculture and pottery, and cremation
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
: to act as a pioneer : lead the way
group which pioneered in the development of the modern art movement — Current Biography
transitive verb
1. : to open or prepare (as a way or region) for others to follow : explore
Portugal, which had done so much to pioneer the outer ocean — Marjory S. Douglas
also : settle
an important distributing center for the farmers who pioneered the region
2. : to originate or take part in the development of (as a new enterprise, course of action, or style)
pioneer some of the first big natural-gas developments in north Texas — T.H.White b. 1915
she pioneered the short haircut for women
3. : to lead safely : guide