People who journey to sacred places for religious reasons, or historically, the English colonists who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.
From Old French 'pelerin' and Latin 'peregrinus' meaning foreigner or traveler, from 'per' (through) and 'ager' (field). The religious sense developed in medieval times, while the American historical usage specifically refers to the Mayflower passengers, first called 'Pilgrims' in the 1790s.
The term 'Pilgrims' for the Plymouth colonists wasn't used by the colonists themselves - they called themselves 'Saints' and 'Strangers.' The romantic notion of 'Pilgrims' was largely a 19th-century invention that helped create American origin mythology, transforming religious refugees into heroic founders.
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