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Glite Dictionary
🧭 A pioneer 🤖 A route finder
pathfinder

pathfinder

12 6.8
A person who finds a safe way through unknown or difficult land
  • noun
  • /ˈpæθˌfaɪndər/
translation icon : explorador
  • Therefore, the task force pursued grant funding for stipends to create pathfinders for common civics topics throughout the grade levels.

Examples

  • The resulting pathfinder was then published on the library's website and remains accessible to this day.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Certain development sectors, including water resources development, have played a pathfinder role in the evolution of development cooperation.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Okay, pathfinder, lead the way.

    Day of the Animals (1977)

  • Track what students are studying in their classes and post useful pathfinders to assist youth with research.

    Academic text (2013)

  • To prepare, Berg created a pathfinder of electronic resources.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The Newton North High School Library Learning Commons posted a pathfinder for students doing research on Spanish-speaking countries.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Also think about out-of-school topics, such as pathfinders about finding summer jobs or buying a used car.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Teacher-librarians wrote and posted twenty-one pathfinders for civics-based CBAs for grades 3-12 and provided a pattern or template for local use.

    Academic text (2010)

  • As an experienced explorer, she was known as a pathfinder, skillfully navigating through the dense jungle.

  • The team chose him as the pathfinder because of his ability to chart the safest routes in the mountains.

Synonyms

explorer
vspathfinder
131 2.8

A person who travels to unknown places to learn about them

focuses more on finding practical routes and leading passage than research
scout
vspathfinder
84 3.1

A person sent ahead to explore and find safe routes or dangers

searches independently to open new ways rather than acting for a group
adventurer
vspathfinder
50 4.2

A person who likes taking risks and exploring unknown places

focuses on practical route finding and guiding rather than thrill seeking
pioneer
vspathfinder
36 4.4

A person who is among the first to move to and prepare new land

focuses on route finding and guiding rather than settling and preparing land
frontiersman
vspathfinder
  • Archaic
2 8.9

A man who lives at the edge of settled land and explores new areas

actively looks for and makes routes through unknown places rather than living there
pathbreaker
vspathfinder
  • Archaic
7.7

A person who clears a way through thick plants, snow, or rough land

finds and leads others through unknown or hard land
trailblazer
vspathfinder
6.2

A person who marks a path in the wild with signs on trees to guide others

finds or opens new routes rather than only marking existing ones

Antonyms

follower
295 1.6

A person who supports a leader and accepts their direction

How Pioneering

trailblazer
12 6.8
pioneer
113 4.2
pathfinder
12 6.8
explorer
131 2.8

Surface Forms

pathfinder singular
pathfinders plural

Morphology

pathfinder = path + finder (transparent) = path + finder

The compound combines 'path' and 'finder' in an obvious way meaning 'one who finds paths', so its structure and sense are directly inferable.

Etymology

Pathfinder comes from path ('way' or 'road') and finder ('one who finds'), so it brings to mind a person who finds a safe way through unknown land, like a pioneer. That's why a pathfinder is a leader who shows the route through difficult territory.