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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ITINERANT

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pronounce ITINERANT:

eye TIN uh runt
Your browser does not support the audio element.

connect this word to others:

Itinerant preachers, nurses, and salespeople travel from place to place: they're always on the move.

See if you can recall two close synonyms of itinerant:

1. From a Greek word meaning "roving" or "wandering:" no___ic.

2. From Greek words meaning "walking around:" p___p__etic.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)    

definition:

In Latin, ire means "to go," iter means "a journey," and itinerāre means "to travel." We borrowed itinerāre into English as "itinerate," meaning "to travel from place to place."

Although we hardly ever use that verb today, we do use its adjective form. Itinerant people, and itinerant careers and lifestyles, involve moving from place to place instead of staying in one permanent home.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "He was working as an itinerant musician;" "She has an itinerant soul."

Also a noun, meaning "a person who moves from place to place." But it sounds old-fashioned: "They made their living as itinerants."

Other forms: 

The adverb is "itinerantly," and the noun is "itinerancy."

You might be wondering if I'll list the word "itinerary" here! It's very closely related to "itinerant," but let's explore it later in its own issue. (An itinerary is a travel plan: a list of where you're going and when.)

how to use it:

Pick the common word "itinerant" to describe people (and their lives, lifestyles, and careers) who are always moving along from one place to the next.

This word helps you establish a formal, serious, respectful tone: "He worked as an itinerant carpenter," "Johnny Appleseed was an itinerant planter," "The economies in Florida and California depend heavily on the work of itinerant farm laborers."

examples:

"[Christopher Columbus] had been an itinerant peddler of old maps and an assiduous reader of the books by and about the ancient geographers."
— Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980

"Howard Vaughan worked as an itinerant bellman at luxury hotels, going south to Florida in the winter and north to upstate New York and Vermont in the summer."
— Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures, 2016

has this page helped you understand "itinerant"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "itinerant" without saying "wandering" or "roving."

try it out:

Here's Willie Nelson celebrating his itinerant life:

"On the road again,
Just can't wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends.
I can't wait to get on the road again."

Do you, too, have an itinerant spirit? Why or why not?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April is "Interpret the Titles: Tim Curry Edition!"

Are you a fan of Tim Curry? (How could anyone not be?) Did you know his birthday is in April? I didn't until I looked it up, but it’s the perfect excuse to base this month's game on his filmography. 

I'll give you the title of some show, movie, or video game that Tim Curry has starred in, along with a summary, and I'll challenge you to interpret the title in three different ways.

To see some examples, and some tips if you get stuck, head here!

Try this one today: "Clue" is a 1985 movie based on a board game, starring Tim Curry as Wadsworth. According to IMDB.com, in the movie, "six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up." Ali Harton adds: "Blackmailer Mr. Boddy gives each guest a weapon and tells him or her to kill butler Wadsworth to avoid being exposed. Add in Mrs. Peacock's craziness and Mr. Green's clumsiness, and meet a whole group tangled in a web of murder, lies, and hilarity."

1. It's titled "Clue" because... ?

2. It's titled "Clue" because... ?

3. It's titled "Clue" because... ?

To see some possible answers, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. The opposite of ITINERANT is

A. DIRECT.
B. PRIMARY.
C. SETTLED.

2. In Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly writes, "Dorothy, who knew the call of the _______ so well, could certainly understand some of the appeal of Howard's unusual and itinerant career."

A. open road
B. wilderness
C. silent forest




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. A

Possible answers to the game question:

1. It's titled "Clue" because the dinner guests must pick up on clues to identify the murderer.

2. It's titled "Clue" (and not "Clues") because there's really only one clue that matters when it comes to solving the mystery.

3. It's titled "Clue" because the word evokes games, like crossword puzzles, and the board game Clue itself, and the characters are always playing around, as if the murders are a game. 

4. It's titled "Clue" because some of the characters clue each other in as to who the murderer is.

5. It's titled "Clue" because most of the characters have no clue what's going on for most of the movie.



a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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