Etymograph

English

itinerant

Itinerant comes from Late Latin itineror ‘travel’, and goes back to Latin iter.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiter1
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEitineror2‘travel’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEitinerantem2present active participle of itineror
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1765–1769itinerant2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin itineror
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English itinerant
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England: “The king's own courts were then itinerant, being kept…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiterWiktionary, Latin itineror
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEitinerorWiktionary, English itinerant‘travel’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEitinerantemWiktionary, English itinerantpresent active participle of itineror
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1765–1769itinerantWiktionary, English itinerant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England: “The king's own courts were then itinerant, being kept…”

Equivalent to iter + -ant

Linked words

through Latin iter

eyre, iter, 4 more

Today it means

adj Habitually travelling from place to place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “itinerant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin itineror. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin iter / itinerant

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