pilgrimage

English

Etymology

From Middle English pilgrimage. By surface analysis, pilgrim +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪlɡɹɪmɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pil‧gri‧mage

Noun

pilgrimage (plural pilgrimages)

1. A journey made to a sacred place, or a religious journey.

   In the Muslim faith, the pilgrimage to Mecca is known as the Hajj.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 187:

     Rome, the mighty mother of the Christian faith, whose amphitheatres had been red with the blood of the saints, and where the pilgrimage and the miracle still testified to the truth.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 204:

     It was like a weary pilgrimage amongst hints for nightmares.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Quarians: Pilgrimage Codex entry:

     Quarians are surgically fitted with their various immunity-boosted implants in preparation for leaving on Pilgrimage.

2. (by extension) A visit to any site revered or associated with a meaningful event.

   Each year we made a pilgrimage to New York City to visit the pub where we all first met.

   • 2023 August 5, Ben Sisario, “How Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Conquered the World”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     For fans, the shows are a pilgrimage, and a rediscovery of the joys of mass gatherings.

Related terms

• pilgrim

Translations

religious journey, or one to a sacred place

• Albanian: pelegrinazh (sq) m
• Arabic: حَجّ (ar) m (ḥajj)
• Armenian: ուխտագնացություն (hy) (uxtagnacʻutʻyun)
• Asturian: pelegrinaxe m, pelegrinación f
• Azerbaijani: ziyarət, həcc (hajj)
• Belarusian: пало́мніцтва n (palómnictva), пілігры́мства n (pilihrýmstva), про́шча f (próšča)
• Bengali: তীর্থযাত্রা (bn) (tirthojatra) জিয়ারত (bn) (jiẏarot)
• Bulgarian: покло́нничество n (poklónničestvo), поклоне́ние n (poklonénie), хаджилъ́к m (hadžilǎ́k)
• Catalan: pelegrinatge m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 朝覲／朝觐 (zh) (cháojìn), 朝聖／朝圣 (zh) (cháoshèng), 巡禮／巡礼 (zh) (xúnlǐ)

• Czech: pouť (cs) f
• Danish: pilgrimsfærd c
• Dutch: bedevaart (nl) c, pelgrimstocht (nl) m
• Esperanto: pilgrimo, pilgrimado
• Estonian: palverännak (et)
• Faroese: pílagrímsferð f
• Finnish: pyhiinvaellus (fi), pyhiinvaellusmatka, toiviomatka
• French: pèlerinage (fr) m
• Galician: peregrinación (gl) f, romaría f, romaxe f
• Georgian: პილიგრიმობა (ṗiligrimoba)
• German: Wallfahrt (de) f, Pilgerfahrt (de) f
• Greek: προσκύνημα (el) n (proskýnima)
• Hebrew: עֲלִיָּה לָרֶגֶל (he) f (alíya larégel)
• Hindi: तीर्थ (hi) m (tīrth)
• Hungarian: zarándoklat (hu)
• Icelandic: pílagrímsferð f
• Indonesian: ziarah (id)
• Irish: oilithreacht f, turas (ga) m
• Italian: pellegrinaggio (it) m
• Japanese: 巡礼 (ja) (じゅんれい, junrei)
• Kazakh: қажылық (qajylyq), зиярат (ziärat)
• Korean: 순례 (ko) (sullye)
• Kyrgyz: зыярат (ky) (zıyarat), ажыга (ajıga)
• Latin: peregrīnātiō f
• Latvian: svētceļojums m
• Luxembourgish: Pilgerfaart f
• Macedonian: поклоне́ние n (poklonénie), а́џилак m (ádžilak)
• Malay: ziarah (ms)
• Norman: pélérinnage m
• Norwegian: valfart m

  Bokmål: pilegrimsreise m or f, pilegrimsferd m or f

  Nynorsk: pilegrimsferd f

• Occitan: pelegrinatge (oc) m, pelegrinacion f, romivatge (oc) m
• Pashto: زيارت (ps) m (zyārát), حج (ps) m (haǰ) (hajj)
• Persian: زیارت (fa) (ziyârat), حج (fa) (hajj) (hajj)
• Plautdietsch: Piljareis f
• Polish: pielgrzymka (pl) f, pąć (pl) f (obsolete)
• Portuguese: peregrinação (pt) f, peregrinagem f, romaria (pt) f
• Romanian: pelerinaj (ro) n
• Russian: пало́мничество (ru) n (palómničestvo), пилигри́мство (ru) n (piligrímstvo), богомо́лье (ru) n (bogomólʹje) (dated)
• Scottish Gaelic: eilthireachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хо̏дочашће n, ходочаст f

  Roman: hȍdočašće n, hodočast f

• Slovak: púť f
• Slovene: romanje (sl) n
• Spanish: peregrinación (es) f, peregrinaje m
• Swahili: hija
• Swedish: pilgrimsfärd (sv) c, vallfärd (sv) c
• Tajik: зиёрат (ziyorat), ҳаҷҷ (tg) (hajj) (hajj)
• Turkish: hac (tr), ziyaret (tr)
• Turkmen: zyýarat (tk)
• Ukrainian: пало́мництво n (palómnyctvo), пілігри́мство n (pilihrýmstvo), про́ща f (próšča), богомі́лля (uk) n (bohomíllja)
• Urdu: زیارت f (zyārat), حج (ur) m (hajj, haj) (hajj)
• Uzbek: ziyorat (uz), haj (uz) (hajj)
• Vietnamese: cuộc hành hương
• Walloon: perlinaedje (wa) m
• Welsh: pererindod

Verb

pilgrimage (third-person singular simple present pilgrimages, present participle pilgrimaging, simple past and past participle pilgrimaged)

1. To go on a pilgrimage.
   • 2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 78:

     in descent, as now, he always had a holy sense of having pilgerimaged, of returning having seen behind a veil.

Related terms

• peregrinate

Translations

to go on a pilgrimage

• Catalan: peregrinar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 朝覲／朝觐 (zh) (cháojìn), 朝聖／朝圣 (zh) (cháoshèng), 巡禮／巡礼 (zh) (xúnlǐ)

• Finnish: pyhiinvaeltaa, tehdä pyhiinvaellus
• French: pèleriner (fr)
• German: pilgern (de)
• Italian: pellegrinare
• Polish: pielgrzymować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: peregrinar (pt)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: peregrinar (es)
• Swahili: -hiji
• Swedish: vallfärda (sv)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• pilgermage, piligrimage, pilgrinage, pilgrenage, pilgramege, pilgrimache, pilrimage, pelrimage

Etymology

From Old French peligrinage, pelrimage, variants of pelerinage (“pilgrimage”); equivalent to pilegrim +‎ -age.

Noun

pilgrimage (plural pilgrimages)

1. pilgrimage
   • late 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 12-14.

     Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
     And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
     To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

     Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage,
     And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
     To distant shrines well known in distant lands.

Descendants

• English: pilgrimage
• Scots: pilgrimag, pilgrimage, pilgramage