Sojourners

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People who inhabit a location for a brief duration away from their permanent residence
2. Individuals who stay temporarily in a different locale for the purpose of exploration or rest
3. Visitors who reside in a place for a limited time while away from their usual home

Etymology: "Sojourners" is the plural of "sojourner," and the form traces back to Middle English "sogorner" and "sojorner," which were built from "sojourn" plus the suffix "-er," meaning one who does a thing. The base word "sojourn" carries the older idea: a stay that is temporary, with the traveller understood to be passing through rather than settled. The word's sense of a short stay away from home stayed close to that origin for centuries. The "-er" ending simply turns the act of staying briefly into the person doing it, so a sojourner is someone defined by being temporarily somewhere that is not their own home.

Synonyms: travelers, visitors, tourists