Bushwalker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who engages in hiking or walking within natural landscapes, typically valuing exploration and the outdoors
2. Someone who partakes in long walks in wild areas, often for leisure and appreciation of nature
3. An individual who journeys on foot through undeveloped natural areas for recreation or exercise

Etymology: "Bushwalker" is a compound of "bush" and "walker," and its meaning is almost exactly what the two parts suggest. "Bush" in this sense is the wild, undeveloped country outside towns, a usage that goes back to the early settlement of Australia, where "the bush" came to mean the uncleared land beyond the settled coast. "Walker" is the ordinary English agent noun for someone who walks. Put together, a bushwalker is a person who goes on foot through the bush, usually for pleasure, often on marked tracks or cross-country routes. The word is most closely associated with Australian and New Zealand usage, where bushwalking as a recreational activity is widespread. Because both elements were already in common use, the compound needed no coinage of its own; it simply describes a recognisable activity in the terms the land itself suggested.

Synonyms: hiker, trekker