hear it again

1 : a person or group that explores new areas of thought or activity.

2 : one of the first to settle in an area : colonist.

Example sentence:
A literary pioneer of the 1900s, Andre Norton was one of the first women to enter the field of science-fiction writing.

Etymology:
At the root of "pioneer" we find the Latin word "pes," which refers to a part of the body. What do you think "pes" means? The Latin word "pes," meaning "foot," has left its tracks all over English. "Pes" journeyed from Latin to French where it formed the base for the word "peonier," meaning "foot soldier." English speakers adopted "peonier" to form the noun "pioneer," which later developed verb and adjective uses as well. "Pedestrian," which names a person who travels on foot, is another offspring of "pes." "Pes" is also the root word of "pedal," the name of a device that is operated by foot. And "pes" is at the root of "centipede" and "millipede," which name insects that have a lot of feet.