pioneer: [16] Pioneer was borrowed from French pionnier, a descendant of Old French paonier. This originally denoted a ‘foot soldier sent on ahead to clear the way’, and was a derivative of paon ‘foot soldier’ (whose Anglo-Norman version poun gave English pawn). => foot, pawn, pedal
pioneer (n.)
1520s, "foot soldier who prepares the way for the army," from Middle French pionnier "foot-soldier, pioneer," from Old French paonier "foot-soldier" (11c.), from peon (see pawn (n.2)). Figurative sense of "person who goes first or does something first" is from c. 1600. Related: Pioneers.
pioneer (v.)
1780, from pioneer (n.). Related: Pioneered; pioneering.
雙語例句
1. She was a suffragette and a birth control pioneer.