ENGLISH
REFERENCE

journey

n. · v.
US //ˈdʒɝni// UK //dʒˈɜːni// jour·ney
  1. 1 travelling to a place (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    the act of travelling from one place to another, especially when it takes a long time.

    an act of travelling from one point to another, typically implying a significant distance or duration.

    Example

    The journey from London to Edinburgh takes about four and a half hours by train.

    Example

    After a grueling three-day journey across the mountain pass, the weary explorers finally reached the coastal outpost.

    Usage

    Often used with the preposition 'to' for the destination and 'from' for the origin.

    Teacher's tip

    Learners often confuse 'journey' (the travel itself) with 'travel' (the general activity) or 'trip' (the whole visit including the stay).
    Pitfall
    How was your journey to the supermarket?
    How was your trip to the supermarket?

    Use 'journey' for long or difficult travel. For short, routine visits, 'trip' is more natural.

  2. 2 personal development (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a process of changing or learning over a long period of time.

    a metaphorical progression or series of stages in a person's life, career, or emotional development.

    Example

    The book describes the author's spiritual journey after he moved to India.

    Example

    The CEO spoke at length about the company's journey from a small garage startup to a global leader in renewable energy.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is extremely common in modern media, especially in reality TV and corporate storytelling.
Show 2 more sensesShow fewer
  1. 3 customer experience (n.)
    C1 Advanced Academic Technical Computing

    the series of steps a customer takes when using a website or buying a product.

    the complete sum of experiences and interactions a customer has with a brand or system.

    Example

    We need to simplify the customer journey on our website to increase sales.

    Example

    Mapping the user journey allowed the developers to identify exactly where potential subscribers were abandoning the registration process.

    Usage

    Commonly appears in the compound 'customer journey'.
  2. 4 to travel (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Literary

    to travel a long distance.

    to undertake a journey; to travel over a significant distance.

    Example

    They journeyed through the desert for weeks before finding an oasis.

    Example

    The pilgrims journeyed southward, stopping at various shrines to pay their respects before reaching the holy city.

    Usage

    Intransitive verb; usually followed by a prepositional phrase of direction.

    Teacher's tip

    As a verb, this is much less common than 'travel' and sounds quite formal or poetic.
Etymology 1

From Middle English journe, from Old French jornee, from Vulgar Latin *diurnāta, from Late Latin diurnum, from Latin diurnus, from diēs (“day”). Displaced native Old English fær and Old English faru.

Etymology 2

Reborrowing from French journée (day's activities), originally an unadapted borrowing from French journée, from Old French jornee, from Vulgar Latin *diurnāta.

Word family

© 2026 English Reference