🧳 A traveler 🕊️ A migrating bird

bird of passage

7.8

A person who moves from place to place and does not settle

noun
/bɜrd əv ˈpæsɪdʒ/

: nómada

As a journalist, she's become something of a bird of passage, traveling wherever the news takes her.

Examples

After years as a bird of passage, he finally decided to settle down in one city.
Are you becoming a bird of passage in your career?
The countryside was familiar with birds of passage who arrived every harvest season.
She is a true bird of passage!
After years as a bird of passage, he finally decided to settle down in one city.
As a journalist, she's become something of a bird of passage, traveling wherever the news takes her.
Many students become birds of passage as they move from city to city for internships.

Synonyms

traveler

vsbird of passage

286 1.0

A person who often goes from place to place

stresses ongoing movement and not settling in one place

wanderer

vsbird of passage

23 3.9

A person who travels without a fixed home or purpose

emphasizes frequent movement and no lasting settlement

rover

vsbird of passage

6 7.0

A person who moves from place to place and has no fixed home

highlights habitual travel and lack of permanent residence

wayfarer

vsbird of passage

2 7.6

A person who travels on foot from place to place

is about frequent movement generally not limited to walking

roamer

vsbird of passage

1 5.1

A person who moves from place to place without staying long

focuses on repeated movement and not settling permanently

peripatetic

vsbird of passage

9.5

A person who travels from place to place for work

refers more generally to frequent movement without job focus

term-trotter

vsbird of passage

9.9

A person who often travels for work or study

covers frequent movement in any context not only work or studies

farer

vsbird of passage

Archaic

9.8

A person who travels long distances, often by sea

focuses on frequent moves without emphasizing distance or route

Antonyms

settler

108 4.1

A person who moves to a new area to live and set up a home

How Settled

resident

∞ 1.8

migrant

181 3.5

bird of passage

7.8

transient

11 7.0

vagrant

25 7.7

Surface Forms

bird of passage singular

birds of passage plural

Morphology

bird + of + passage

The meaning 'a migratory bird' is related to the literal parts: 'bird' + 'passage' (passing/journey), so there is a clear semantic link. However, the noun phrase 'of passage' is somewhat literary and the sense of 'passage' as 'migration/passing through' is not the most frequent meaning, so a B1 learner may not fully predict the precise migratory sense without prior exposure.

Etymology

Bird of passage comes from the image of migratory birds that stop only for a short time in one place and then fly on instead of settling. So a 'bird of passage' means a person who moves from place to place and does not settle.