A nomad is a person who moves from place to place rather than living in one permanent home. Traditional nomads move to find food, water, and grazing land for their animals. For thousands of years, many peoples lived as nomads, following herds of wild animals they hunted or moving their livestock to new pastures with the seasons.

The Mongols of Central Asia were famous nomads who lived in portable tent homes called yurts that could be taken apart and moved as they traveled with their horses and sheep. Bedouin tribes in Middle Eastern deserts moved between oases and watering holes. Some groups, like certain peoples of the Arctic, followed migrating caribou herds. Before farming became widespread, nearly all humans lived as nomads, moving to wherever food was plentiful.

Today, some peoples still live nomadic lifestyles, though their numbers have decreased as more places have developed permanent towns and cities. The word can also describe someone who moves around frequently by choice. A person might live a nomadic lifestyle, working remotely from different cities each month, or a musician might tour constantly, living in hotels and buses. The key idea is movement: a nomad doesn't stay put but keeps traveling to new places.