émigré

[em-i-grey, ey-mee-grey]

noun

plural

émigrés 

1. an emigrant, especially a person who flees from their native land because of political conditions.

2. a person who fled from France because of opposition to or fear of the revolution that began in 1789.

émigré

/ ˈɛmɪˌɡreɪ, emiɡre /

noun

1. an emigrant, esp one forced to leave his native country for political reasons

Word History and Origins

Origin of émigré¹

First recorded in 1785–95; from French: noun use of past participle of émigrer, from Latin ēmīgrāre to emigrate

Word History and Origins

Origin of émigré¹

C18: from French, from émigrer to _emigrate

When To Use

What does émigré mean?

An émigré is an emigrant, especially one who has fled their home country due to oppressive political conditions.An emigrant is any person who has emigrated or is emigrating—permanently leaving home in one country or region to settle in another.While emigrants can emigrate for a number of reasons, the word émigré typically implies that someone has fled political oppression or political conditions that they strongly disagree with.The word émigré is sometimes used in a more specific way to refer to a person who fled from France before, during, or after the French Revolution, which began in 1789. Such émigrés were often aristocrats who feared that they would be targeted by violence during the revolution or otherwise opposed it.The related word immigrant refers to someone who moves to a place, as opposed to away from it. Of course, émigrés are also immigrants since they have to settle somewhere after they leave.The word is sometimes seen without the accent marks (as emigre).Example: Thousands of émigrés fled Germany during the rise of Hitler in the 1930s.