¹pioneer

The source of our word pioneer is ultimately Old French peonier or pionier, a derivative of peon, “foot soldier.” The word peonier also originally meant “foot soldier,” but later appeared in the sense “digger” or “excavator,” and by the 1300s referred to a soldier who went ahead of the main army and prepared forts for the men who would follow. The word was borrowed by English in the 1500s, and may still apply to troops who build roads and bridges (though engineer is the usual term in the United States Army). The word is usually used in the figurative sense of “someone who prepares the way for others.”