pilgrims
Holy journey takers
Pilgrims are people who journey to a sacred place for religious reasons—to a shrine, holy city, or site of spiritual significance.
The word extends to any travelers on a meaningful quest: pilgrims seeking a new life in California.
More loosely, pilgrims are people new to a place or undertaking. (Capitalized Pilgrims refers to the English colonists who founded Plymouth.)
Islam's most sacred city
- JerusalemTriply sacred ancient capital
- VaranasiSacred Hindu city, Ganges
- LourdesFrench pilgrimage town
- SantiagoChile's largest city
Canterbury · Rome · Amritsar · Fatima · Glastonbury · Medina · Guadalupe
Symbolic tale with deeper meaning
- Canterbury TalesMedieval English story collection
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- spiritual journeyPursuit of transcendent meaning
- transformationThorough change in form
Chaucer · enlightenment · quest · soul · redemption · salvation · moral
Sacred devotional place
- sacredWorthy of reverence
- prayerAddress to deity
- worshipReligious reverence and praise
- pietySincere religious devotion
reverence · devotion · spirituality · blessing · vow · offering · relic · saint
Formal event marking occasions
- processionFormal moving line
- ritesFormal ceremonial acts
- chantingRhythmic repetitive vocalization
- incenseAnger greatly, or aromatic resin
altar · offering · shrine · ablution · circumambulation · prostration · blessing · relic
Mecca
Islam's most sacred city
- JerusalemTriply sacred ancient capital
- VaranasiSacred Hindu city, Ganges
- LourdesFrench pilgrimage town
Santiago · Canterbury · Rome · Amritsar · Fatima · Glastonbury · Medina · Guadalupe
allegory
Symbolic tale with deeper meaning
- Canterbury TalesMedieval English story collection
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- spiritual journeyPursuit of transcendent meaning
Chaucer · transformation · enlightenment · quest · soul · redemption · salvation · moral
shrine
Sacred devotional place
piety · reverence · devotion · spirituality · blessing · vow · offering · relic · saint · meditation
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
- processionFormal moving line
- ritesFormal ceremonial acts
- chantingRhythmic repetitive vocalization
incense · altar · offering · shrine · ablution · circumambulation · prostration · blessing · relic · vestments
quest
Seeking journey for something
wayfarer · seeker · wanderer · footsore · staff · path · route · destination · arrival · return
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- AmericanaAmerican flag, Fourth of July, bald eagle, Thanksgiving, apple pie
- Americas HistoryAmerican Revolution, Aztec Empire, colonial era, colonization, Columbus
- Medieval Eraknights, Middle Ages, castles, feudal lords, medieval period
- Atlantic HistoryAtlantic crossing, transatlantic trade, transatlantic crossing, Columbus, triangle trade
- colonistscolonists, settler, colonials, colonist, Puritans
pilgrimstourists
Travelers seeing sights
vacationers · sightseers · pleasure seekers · holidaymakers · business travelers
pilgrimsnatives
Original local population
residents · locals · homebodies · aboriginals · settlers
- pilgrim hatPuritan settler headwear
- pilgrimage siteSacred destination for worship
- spiritual pilgrimageReligious journey for enlightenment
- pilgrimage routePath to sacred destination
- religious pilgrimagesDevotional travel to shrines
- Pilgrim's ProgressAllegorical journey to salvation