peon/pioneer

[scw1217]

Somewhere I was reading and the word "peonage" came into the sentence. In looking up the word "peon" I discovered it is related to the word "pioneer", both of which come from Spanish and the ped- prefix. I love it when etymology comes full circle.

Here's peon from Dictionary.com:

pe·on1 [pee-uhn, pee-on]
–noun
1. (in Spanish America) a farm worker or unskilled laborer; day laborer.
2. (formerly, esp. in Mexico) a person held in servitude to work off debts or other obligations.
3. any person of low social status, esp. one who does work regarded as menial or unskilled; drudge.
[Origin: 1820–30; < Sp peón peasant, day laborer < VL *pedōn- (s. of *pedō) walker (whence ML pedōnés infantry, OF peon pawn2), deriv. of L ped- (s. of pés) foot]

Pioneer:

pi·o·neer [pahy-uh-neer]
–noun
1. a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
2. one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress: pioneers in cancer research.
3. one of a group of foot soldiers detailed to make roads, dig intrenchments, etc., in advance of the main body.
4. Ecology. an organism that successfully establishes itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.
5. (initial capital letter) Aerospace. one of a series of U.S. space probes that explored the solar system and transmitted scientific information to earth.
6. (initial capital letter) (formerly) a member of a Communist organization in the Soviet Union for children ranging in age from 10 to 16. Compare Komsomol, Octobrist.
–verb (used without object)
7. to act as a pioneer.
–verb (used with object)
8. to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.).
9. to take part in the beginnings of; initiate: to pioneer an aid program.
10. to lead the way for (a group); guide.
–adjective
11. being the earliest, original, first of a particular kind, etc.: a pioneer method of adult education.
12. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of pioneers: pioneer justice.
13. being a pioneer: a pioneer fur trader.
[Origin: 1515–25; < MF pionier, OF peonier foot soldier. See peon, -eer]

[Stargzer]

Pioneer:

pi·o·neer [pahy-uh-neer]
–noun

... 2. one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress

...–verb (used with object)

8. to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.).

9. to take part in the beginnings of; initiate:

... 10. to lead the way for (a group); guide.
–adjective

11. being the earliest, original, first of a particular kind, etc. ...

Pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs, especially in Government, Bureaucracy, or Technology.

[scw1217]

Thanks, Good Dr., for putting this word in the daily email! I kept looking for it to show up in the Good Word Discussion forum, just so I could point out you misspelled my name! It's S-u-Z-a-n-n-e. But no harm done!