CIDE DICTIONARY

pioneer, n. [F. pionier, orig., a foot soldier, OF. peonier, fr. OF. peon a foot soldier, F. pion. See Pawn in chess.].

A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances. [1913 Webster]
One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow; as, pioneers of civilization; pioneers of reform. [1913 Webster]

pioneer, v. t. & i.

To go before, and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer. [1913 Webster]
to take part in the early development of; to break ground in; to invent or originate. [PJC]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

pioneer, n. & v.
--n.
1 an initiator of a new enterprise, an inventor, etc.
2 an explorer or settler; a colonist.
3 Mil. a member of an infantry group preparing roads, terrain, etc. for the main body of troops.
--v.
1 a tr. initiate or originate (an enterprise etc.). b intr. act or prepare the way as a pioneer.
2 tr. Mil. open up (a road etc.) as a pioneer.
3 tr. go before, lead, or conduct (another person or persons).

Etymology

F pionnier foot-soldier, pioneer, OF paonier, peon(n)ier (as PEON)

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THESAURUS

pioneer

Seabee, actuate, advance guard, adventurer, airhead, alpinist, ancestor, announcer, antecedent, astronaut, avant-garde, battle line, be in front, be the front-runner, beachhead, begin, bellwether, blaze the trail, break ground, break the ice, break the trail, bridgehead, buccinator, bushwhacker, camper, climber, coin, colonial, colonist, colonizer, combat engineer, comers and goers, commuter, cosmopolite, create, cruiser, develop, discover, earliest, engineer, establish, excursionist, explorer, fare, farthest outpost, first line, forebear, forefront, foregoer, forerun, forerunner, forge ahead, found, front, front line, front rank, front runner, front-runner, frontiersman, fugleman, globe-girdler, globe-trotter, go before, goer, groundbreaker, guide, hajji, harbinger, head, head up, herald, homesteader, immigrant, inaugurate, initial, initiate, innovate, innovator, institute, introduce, introduce new blood, invent, jet set, jet-setter, journeyer, kick off, launch, lay the foundation, lay the groundwork, lead, lead off, lead runner, lead the way, leader, line, maiden, make innovations, mariner, messenger, mountaineer, neologize, nester, open up, original, originate, outguard, outpost, pacemaker, palmer, passenger, passerby, pathfinder, pilgrim, pilot, planter, point, precede, precedent, precursor, predecessor, primary, prime, put in motion, railhead, revolutionize, rubberneck, rubbernecker, sailor, sapper, sapper and miner, scout, set in motion, set off, set up, settler, show the way, sightseer, sooner, spearhead, squatter, stand first, stand in front, start, stormy petrel, straphanger, take the initiative, take the lead, take the plunge, tourer, tourist, trailblazer, trailbreaker, transient, traveler, trekker, trend-setter, trigger, tripper, usher in, van, vanguard, vaunt-courier, viator, visiting fireman, voortrekker, voyager, voyageur, wayfarer, world-traveler

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ROGET THESAURUS

pioneer

Preparation

N preparation, providing, provision, providence, anticipation, precaution, preconcertation, predisposition, forecast, rehearsal, note of preparation, arrangement, clearance, adjustment, tuning, equipment, outfit, accouterment, armament, array, ripening, maturation, evolution, elaboration, concoction, digestion, gestation, batching, incubation, sitting, groundwork, first stone, cradle, stepping-stone, foundation, scaffold, scaffolding, echafaudage, training, inurement, novitiate, cooking, cookery, brewing, culinary art, tilling, plowing sowing, semination, cultivation, preparedness, readiness, ripeness, mellowness, maturity, un impromptu fait a loisir, preparer, trainer, pioneer, trailblazer, avant-courrier, avant-coureur, voortrekker, sappers and miners, pavior, navvy, packer, stevedore, warming pan, preparing, in preparation, in course of preparation, in agitation, in embryo, in hand, in train, afoot, afloat, on foot, on the stocks, on the anvil, under consideration, brewing, batching, forthcoming, brooding, in store for, in reserve, precautionary, provident, preparative, preparatory, provisional, inchoate, under revision, preliminary, prepared, in readiness, ready, ready to one's band, ready made, ready cut and dried: made to one's hand, handy, on the table, in gear, in working order, in working gear, snug, in practice, ripe, mature, mellow, pukka, practiced, labored, elaborate, highly-wrought, smelling of the lamp, worked up, in full feather, in best bib and tucker, in harness, at harness, in the saddle, in arms, in battle array, in war paint, up in arms, armed at all points, armed to the teeth, armed cap a pie, sword in hand, booted and spurred, in utrumque paratus, semper paratus, on the alert, at one's post, in preparation, in anticipation of, against, for, abroach, a bove majori discit arare minor, looking before and after, si vis pacem para bellum.

Precursor

N precursor, antecedent, precedent, predecessor, forerunner, vancourier, avant-coureur, pioneer, prodrome, prodromos, prodromus, outrider, leader, bellwether, herald, harbinger, foreboding, dawn, avant-courier, avant-garde, bellmare, forelooper, foreloper, stalking-horse, voorlooper, voortrekker, prelude, preamble, preface, prologue, foreword, avant-propos, protasis, proemium, prolusion, proem, prolepsis, prolegomena, prefix, introduction, heading, frontispiece, groundwork, preparation, overture, exordium, symphony, premises, prefigurement, omen, precursory, prelusive, prelusory, preludious, proemial, introductory, prefatory, prodromous, inaugural, preliminary, precedent, a precedent embalms a principle.

Front

N front, fore, forepart, foreground, face, disk, disc, frontage, facade, proscenium, facia, frontispiece, anteriority, obverse (of a medal or coin), fore rank, front rank, van, vanguard, advanced guard, outpost, first line, scout, brow, forehead, visage, physiognomy, phiz, countenance, mut, rostrum, beak, bow, stem, prow, prore, jib, pioneer, metoposcopy, fore, anterior, front, frontal, before, in front, in the van, in advance, ahead, right ahead, forehead, foremost, in the foreground, in the lee of, before one's face, before one's eyes, face to face, vis-a-vis, front a front, formosa muta commendatio est, frons est animi janua, Human face divine, imago animi vultus est indices oculi, sea of upturned faces.

Teacher

N teacher, trainer, instructor, institutor, master, tutor, director, Corypheus, dry nurse, coach, grinder, crammer, don, governor, bear leader, governess, duenna, disciplinarian, professor, lecturer, reader, prelector, prolocutor, preacher, chalk talker, khoja, pastor, schoolmaster, dominie, usher, pedagogue, abecedarian, schoolmistress, dame, monitor, pupil teacher, expositor, preceptor, guide, guru, mentor, pioneer, apostle, missionary, propagandist, munshi, example, professorship, tutelage, professorial, qui doet discet.

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