DCHP-1 Online

voyager [< Cdn F voyageur]

• 1 n. Hist. one of the canoemen or boatmen, usually a French Canadian, Orkneyman, Indian, or Métis, who crewed the vessels of the inland fur trade.

  See also: voyageur (def. 1a)  

  • 1765-75  (1933)  Scars a Voiger but stops hear and Puts a small Sum in the Box.
  • 1853  (1955)  Canadian voyagers formed another motley group, with their half Indian dresses, bronzed faces, and flaringly-striped cotton shirts.
  • 1965  These [Coureurs de Bois] were a hardy breed of voyagers and woodsmen

• 2 n. any traveller of the rivers and trails of the wilderness, especially by canoe.

  See also: voyageur (def. 4b)  

  • 1925  But winter was rapidly closing in upon them and threatening the daring voyagers.
  • 1959  . . . Father Le Treste pointed to the small, original mission church that had been built in