pathfinder

UK: /ˈpɑːθfaɪndə^r/

US: /ˈpæθˌfaɪndɚ/

US: (path′f īn′dər, päth′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

path•find•er /ˈpæθˌfaɪndɚ/   n. [countable]

1. one who finds a way, esp. through a wilderness or an unexplored area.

path•find•ing, n. [uncountable] , adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

path•find•er  (path′f īn′dər, päth′-), n. 

1. a person who finds or makes a path, way, route, etc.,esp. through a previously unexplored or untraveled wilderness.
2. an airplane, or a person dropped from a plane, sent into a target area to illuminate the area for succeeding aircraft.
3. Military a radar beacon beamed into a target area to provide guidance for missiles seeking the target.
4. Aerospace (cap.) an unmanned spacecraft that landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, to obtain climatic and geologic data.

• path + finder 1830–40, American.

path ′find′ing, n., adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pathfinder / ˈpɑːθˌfaɪndə/ noun

1. a person who makes or finds a way, esp through unexplored areas or fields of knowledge
2. an aircraft or parachutist who indicates a target area by dropping flares, etc
3. a radar device used for navigation or homing onto a target

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

Pathfinder, The, 

1. Literature a historical novel (1840) by James Fenimore Cooper. Cf. Leather-Stocking Tales.