immigrate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence.
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to pass or come into a new habitat or place, as an organism.
verb (used with object)
verb
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(intr) to come to a place or country of which one is not a native in order to settle there Compare emigrate
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(intr) (of an animal or plant) to migrate to a new geographical area
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(tr) to introduce or bring in as an immigrant
Synonym Usage
See migrate.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of immigrate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin immigrātus (past participle of immigrāre “to move into”); see im- 1, migrate
Explanation
When a person immigrates, he or she moves to a new country. During the great wave of immigration between 1880 and 1924, over 25 million Europeans immigrated to the United States. Many immigrants make significant contributions to their adopted countries. Consider Albert Einstein, the greatest physicist of the twentieth century, who immigrated to America from Germany, or the Russian-born New Yorker Irving Berlin, who wrote some of the most popular songs in the American songbook, including “White Christmas” and “God Bless America." The word immigrate comes from the Latin imigrare, which means “to move in.”
Vocabulary lists containing immigrate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But lawyers told Barron’s that most of their wealthy foreign clients who want to immigrate aren’t applying for the Gold Card—they’re pursuing other options.
From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026
The pause takes effect starting Jan. 21, and will halt visa issuance to people looking to immigrate permanently, typically through marriage, family ties or work sponsorship.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026
“But if I’m a family of four and I want to immigrate to the U.S., that’s $4 million, so that gets a little pricey,” he said.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 7, 2025
Koreatown came to life and blossomed in the late ’60s as a new immigration act permitted thousands of Koreans to immigrate and join their families in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 12, 2025
The American president, J « Harry Truman, had petitioned Congress to allow tens of thousands of concentration camp survivors to immigrate to the United States.
From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
