peregrination

per•e•gri•na•tion (per-i-gruh-NEY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1. travel from one place to another, esp. on foot
2. a course of travel; journey

peregrinate verb

Related:
Synonyms: trip, excursion, expedition, navigate, perambulate, traverse, transit, travel
Related Words:: peregrine (falcon)

Sentence Examples:
• He didn't believe that she told lies in Twelfth Street; he thought she was too imperial to lie; and he wondered what she said to her mother when, at the end of nearly a whole afternoon of vague peregrination with her lover, this bridling, bristling matron asked her where she had been. -Georgina's Reasons, Henry James

• A great part of the life of Erasmus was one continual peregrination; ill supplied with the gifts of fortune, and led from city to city, and from kingdom to kingdom, by the hopes of patrons and preferment, hopes which always flattered and always deceived him; he yet found means, by unshaken constancy, and a vigilant improvement of those hours, which, in the midst of the most restless activity, will remain unengaged, to write more than another in the same condition would have hoped to read. -The Rambler, Samuel Johnson

• "Now I declare," said Don Quixote, "he who reads much and travels much sees and knows a great deal. I say so because what amount of persuasion could have persuaded me that there are apes in the world that can divine as I have seen now with my own eyes? For I am that very Don Quixote of La Mancha this worthy animal refers to, though he has gone rather too far in my praise; but whatever I may be, I thank heaven that it has endowed me with a tender and compassionate heart, always disposed to do good to all and harm to none."
"If I had money," said the page, "I would ask senor ape what will happen me in the peregrination I am making."
-The History of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes

• Whence, disappearing from the constellation of the Northern Crown he would somehow reappear reborn above delta in the constellation of Cassiopeia and after incalculable eons of peregrination return an estranged avenger, a wreaker of justice on malefactors, a dark crusader, a sleeper awakened, with financial resources (by supposition) surpassing those of Rothschild or the silver king. - Ulysses, James Joyce

The Storyline
Eyes shut, she imagined for a fleeting moment some exotic peregrination from island to island in the South Pacific - tranquil and serene.

Origin:
1425–75;  late ME peregrinacioun, from O.Fr. peregrination (12c.), from L. peregrinationem (nom. peregrinatio) "a journey," from peregrinatus, pp. of peregrinari "to journey or travel abroad," from peregrinus "from foreign parts, foreigner," from peregre "abroad," properly "that found outside Roman territory," from per- (q.v.) + agri, loc. of ager "field, territory, land, country"

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Why This Word:
With a fine record of literary usage, peregrination is a word every well-read person should have at the ready. But it also adds another sense of meaning to one's store: more specific than travel, less confined than perambulate.
In addition to its relationship to peregrine falcon, peregrination also shares a root with agriculture and acre. (per- (q.v.) + agri, loc. of ager "field, territory, land, country")

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