Drifters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collective of people who wander or float without a set direction, typically embracing a lifestyle of transience and exploration
2. Individuals who roam freely without a defined path, often living spontaneously and marginally in society
3. Persons who travel aimlessly or without a fixed home, often adopting a transient way of living

Etymology: Drifters is the plural of "drifter," a word built from the noun or verb "drift" with the agent suffix "-er," which marks a person or thing that does the action. "Drift" itself is ancient in English. It descends from a Proto-Germanic root meaning something driven or pushed along, and in Old English the noun "drift" meant a driving or a thing driven, such as a herd or a snowdrift. The sense of a person being carried along by no fixed purpose came later, as the notion of being pushed about by currents or circumstance gained figurative use. The suffix has a longer journey than the word it attaches to. "-er" traces back through Old French "-ier" to Latin "-arius," which formed nouns denoting occupation or agent, and it arrived in English through Old and Middle English forms of the same ending. That is why English can attach it so freely to verbs and nouns alike, producing "baker," "singer," and, here, "drifter."

Synonyms: wanderers, roamers, floaters

Antonyms: settlers, stayers