noun

1. One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.

2. A person or other entity who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress.

   “Certain politicians can be considered as pioneers of reform.”

3. A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances; a sapper.

verb

1. To be the first to do or achieve (something), preparing the way for others to follow.

   “The young doctor pioneered a new life-saving surgical technique.”

Synonyms: break new ground, push the envelope