Word.ws English Dictionary

peregrine

/ˈpɛɹəɡɹin/

peregrine adjective: wandering, travelling, migratory.

Adjective

peregrine (comparative more peregrine, superlative most peregrine)

  1. Wandering, travelling, migratory.
    • The Romani are perpetually peregrine people.
  2. Not native to a region or country; foreign; alien.
  3. Lacking essential debility.
  4. Extrinsic or from without; exotic.
    • peregrine and preternatural heat1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
    • As soon as she had smiled her face altered again, and the petulant expression peregrine to her features took control.1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan
  5. With "tone" Referring to the tonus peregrinus or 'wandering tone' in ecclesiastical chant and mode theory.

Noun

peregrine (plural peregrines)

  1. The peregrine falcon.
  2. (dated) A foreigner; a person resident in a country other than his or her own.
    Synonyms:
    alien

Proper noun capitalized: Peregrine

Peregrine

  1. (rather rare) A male given name from Latin; and of mostly British usage.
    • Pringle didn't say anything about Roger always being called Hodge. He sensed that Mr. Liddon wouldn't call him Hodge any more than he would call him Pringle. He was right. / "Parents well, are they, Peregrine?" - - - / Hodge capered about, his thumbs in his ears and his hand flapping. "Tweet...1985, Ruth Rendell, The New Girlfriend: The Fen Hall, pages 124, 127

Synonyms of peregrine

Forms of peregrine

Adjective
comparativemore peregrine
superlativemost peregrine
Noun
pluralperegrines

Origin of peregrine

From Middle English peregrin, borrowed from Old French peregrin, from Latin peregrīnus (“foreign”). Doublet of pilgrim.

Saint's name from Latin Peregrinus, from peregrinus (“foreigner”).

Words formed from peregrine

Phrases with peregrine

Questions about peregrine

What does peregrine mean?
Peregrine means wandering, travelling, migratory.
What part of speech is peregrine?
Peregrine can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce peregrine?
Peregrine is pronounced /ˈpɛɹəɡɹin/.

Words near peregrine in the dictionary

  1. peregrination
  2. peregrinations
  3. peregrinator
  4. peregrinators
  5. peregrinatory
  6. peregrine
  7. peregrine falcon
  8. peregrine falcons
  9. peregrine hawk
  10. peregrine hawks
  11. peregrine shrimp

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: peregrine (page history and authors); Peregrine (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-peregrine.wav.

Cite this entry: “peregrine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/peregrine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.