pioneer
• noun 1 a person who explores or settles in a new region. 2 a developer of new ideas or techniques. 3 a member of an infantry group preparing roads or terrain for the main body of troops. • verb be a pioneer of. — ORIGIN French pionnier ‘foot soldier’.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
| 
