Wanderjahr

//ˈvɑn.də(ɹ)ˌjɑː// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A year-long period of travel, especially following one’s education and prior to seeking employment.

    "Once he has assembled his characters in the lively youth resort of Torremolinos, Michener packs them into a Volkswagen bus and sends them on their Wanderjahr through some pretty interesting places."

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of wanderjahr. alt-of
  3. 3
    A year spent by an apprentice travelling and honing skills prior to the professional practice of a trade. historical

Synonyms

All synonyms
discursionerrantrygap yearitinerancynomadismramble

Example

More examples

"Once he has assembled his characters in the lively youth resort of Torremolinos, Michener packs them into a Volkswagen bus and sends them on their Wanderjahr through some pretty interesting places."

Etymology

From German Wanderjahr (“journeyman’s year”), from wandern (“wander, trek”) + Jahr (“year”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.