pioneer

pioneer — 名詞

1. someone among the earliest to study, build, or use a new idea, method, or techno

1.名詞B2
釋義

先驅；先鋒

在某領域率先開創新事物的人

someone among the earliest to study, build, or use a new idea, method, or technology, opening the way for others who later improve on the work.

例句

Marie Curie was a pioneer of research into radioactive elements.

Marie Curie 是放射性元素研究的先驅。

pioneer of + [field of research]

The Wright brothers are remembered as pioneers in modern aviation.

Wright 兄弟被視為現代航空的先驅。

pioneers in + [domain]

同義詞
  • trailblazer

    more vivid and informal; emphasises being first and inspiring others to follow

  • innovator

    stresses creating something new rather than simply being early

  • founder

    first person of an organisation or movement; narrower than pioneer

  • groundbreaker

    informal; highlights doing work that breaks with past practice

反義詞
  • follower

    someone who copies or continues another's work rather than starting it

  • imitator

    negative tone; copies an existing approach without adding to it

文法句型

a pioneer of/in [field]

用法筆記

Subject is usually a person or small group; the field that follows 'of' or 'in' is typically an academic, scientific, artistic, or technological area, not a physical place. Distinguish from sense 2 (which describes geographical settlers).

常見錯誤

❌She is a pioneer to robotics.
✅She is a pioneer of robotics.
💡use 'of' or 'in' before the field, not 'to'.
❌He pioneer the new method.
✅He is a pioneer of the new method.
💡'pioneer' here is a noun; use the article 'a' or change to the verb form.

2. an early outsider who moves into an unfamiliar region to clear land, raise crops

2.名詞B2
釋義

拓荒者

最早進入新地區開墾定居的人

an early outsider who moves into an unfamiliar region to clear land, raise crops, and put up shelter — often used about families who travelled west across North America in the 1800s.

例句

Carlos painted a wagon train of pioneers heading west across the plains.

Carlos 畫了一隊拓荒者乘馬車向西橫越大平原。

pioneers heading west — historical-American context

Early pioneers in Oregon built simple log cabins beside the river.

早期到俄勒岡的拓荒者在河邊蓋起簡單的木屋。

early pioneers + [place] + built [shelter]

同義詞
  • settler

    the most neutral word for someone who moves to live in a new area

  • colonist

    stresses political control of new territory; more loaded than settler

  • frontiersman

    specifically male; a person living at the edge of settled land

  • homesteader

    American English; one who claims and farms a plot of land under government schemes

反義詞
  • native

    people already living in the land before outsiders arrived

文法句型

the pioneers of [region]

用法筆記

Strongly tied to the colonial and 19th-century American historical setting. In modern academic writing this sense can be sensitive because it overlooks the people already living in those lands; pair with neutral framing where appropriate. Distinguish from sense 1 (which is about ideas and methods, not geography).

常見錯誤

❌My grandparents were pioneers when they moved house in 1990.
✅My grandparents were among the first families to move to that suburb in 1990.
💡sense 2 implies opening up wild or unsettled land, not just relocating.

3. in ecology, a plant, lichen, or animal able to take root and live in an empty or

3.名詞C2
釋義

先驅物種

最早在裸地落腳生長的生物

in ecology, a plant, lichen, or animal able to take root and live in an empty or damaged habitat — such as fresh lava, sand, or rock — beginning the long process by which other species can later move in.

例句

Lichens act as pioneers on bare rock left behind by retreating glaciers.

地衣是冰川退去後在裸岩上落腳的先驅物種。

act as pioneers on + [bare substrate]

Mosses are often the first pioneers to grow on fresh volcanic ash.

苔蘚常常是最早在新鮮火山灰上生長的先驅物種。

first pioneers + to + [colonising verb]

同義詞
  • pioneer species

    the standard textbook term for the same idea

  • colonizer

    any organism that establishes itself in a new area; broader than pioneer

反義詞
  • climax species

    ecology term: organisms that dominate a stable, mature habitat after pioneers have prepared it

文法句型

pioneer (species) on [bare ground]

用法筆記

Strictly a biology/ecology term, often shortened to 'pioneer species' (see the adjective entry). Subject must be a living organism, not an idea or person. Frequently appears with 'colonise', 'establish', and 'bare/disturbed/open' habitats.

常見錯誤

❌Bulldozers were the pioneers on the bare ground.
✅Mosses were the pioneers on the bare ground.
💡this sense applies only to living organisms, not machines or human activity.

pioneer — 動詞

pioneer — 形容詞