peregrinatio

Peregrinatio is a Latin noun meaning a journey or travel, especially to a sacred place. It derives from peregrinus, meaning foreign or stranger, and conveys the sense of traveling beyond one’s homeland. In classical Latin, peregrinatio could denote travel to foreign lands, wandering, or exile.

In Christian Latin, the term took on a theological and devotional sense. It was used to describe the Christian life as a pilgrimage—a journey through the world toward the heavenly homeland. The word also referred to actual pilgrimages to holy sites such as Jerusalem, Rome, and other places of religious significance, which were undertaken for penance, devotion, or vow.

Medieval and early modern usage frequently centers on pilgrimage as a lived practice, with routes, shrines, and communities forming around peregrinatio. The concept helped frame religious identity, penitential discipline, and the communal memory of travel to sacred destinations.

In contemporary scholarship, peregrinatio appears mainly in studies of Latin theology, medieval pilgrimage literature, and liturgical texts. The term is less common in everyday English, where peregrination is the more common cognate, but peregrinatio remains a standard term in discussions of Latin religious and literary contexts.

Overall, peregrinatio denotes both the act of traveling beyond one’s borders and a broader metaphor for the Christian life as a journey of faith toward a spiritual goal.