emigrate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
emigrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
emigrated,
past participle, past
-
emigrating
present participle
verb
Usage
What does emigrate mean? Emigrate means to permanently leave home in one country or region to settle in another. The act or occurrence of emigrating is called emigration. A person who is emigrating or has emigrated can be called an emigrant. What’s the difference between emigrate, immigrate, and migrate?To migrate is to move from one place to another (and perhaps back and forth). To emigrate is to move out, and to immigrate is to move in. For this reason, the word emigrate is commonly followed by from and the home country, whereas immigrate is commonly followed by to and the destination country. Of course, emigrate and immigrate are two ways to describe the same process—people who are emigrating are also immigrating (if they leave, they have to go somewhere). But there are good reasons to use each word in different situations. For example, one country may be a common destination for people to immigrate to, while another may be a place that people are frequently emigrating from. The words migrate and immigrate are more likely to be used to describe such relocation in a general way (that is, a way that takes both the starting point and the destination into account), whereas emigrate is almost always about the starting point. Example: The lack of employment has caused a significant number of people to emigrate, with many highly skilled workers leaving the country.
Synonym Usage
See migrate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reemigrateverb (used without object)
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emigrativeadjective
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emigratoryadjective
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unemigratingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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emigratesimple
-
emigratessimple
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have emigratedperfect
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has emigratedperfect
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am emigratingprogressive
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are emigratingprogressive
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is emigratingprogressive
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have been emigratingperfect progressive
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has been emigratingperfect progressive
Past
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emigratedsimple
-
had emigratedperfect
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was emigratingprogressive
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were emigratingprogressive
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had been emigratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of emigrate
First recorded in 1770–80; from Latin ēmīgrātus “moved away” (past participle of ēmīgrāre ), equivalent to ē- “from, away from, out of” ( see e- 1) + mīgrātus ( mīgr- “remove” + ātus verb suffix ( see -ate 1)
Explanation
If you move to a different country, you emigrate. For example, if you emigrate from Canada and go to Italy, you aren't on vacation — you are making Italy your new home. Benvenuti! The verb emigrate comes from the Latin word emigrare, which means “move away,” or “depart from a place.” The words emigrate and immigrate both mean that a person has decided to permanently live in a foreign country, but to emigrate is to leave your country, and to immigrate is to come into a new country. To emigrate is to exit.
Vocabulary lists containing emigrate
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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"A Place to Call Home," Vocabulary from the research study
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Geography
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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.
See Examples For:
He said it has become the “last straw” for him, and he has decided to leave Venezuela and emigrate to Europe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
He's a Moroccan man in his twenties and wants to emigrate to Europe - not least because he's been seeing lots of videos on Instagram that make the trip look easy.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Zemlinsky did manage to emigrate to New York but died of pneumonia in 1942 without having been able to revive his career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Albania has been in a demographic crisis for decades, as people emigrate abroad in search of better work prospects.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Could not, even if he wanted to, emigrate.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
The two lose contact for 12 years after Nora’s family emigrates to the United States and reconnect after Hae-sung finds her again on Facebook.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2024
“No one emigrates from their country because they want to. One migrates because you have basic needs and there isn’t support in your native country,” she said, starting to cry.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
Dr Black said contracts are being handed back because there are serious difficulties in finding a replacement when a doctor "retires or emigrates, or resigns".
From BBC ● May 29, 2023
On that February afternoon, Moshfegh, a self-described workaholic, reported she was already halfway through her next novel, about a woman who emigrates from China to San Francisco in the early 1900s.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2020
If a man emigrates it does not affect the occupation of those who farm the land all about him.
From The National Being Some Thoughts on an Irish Polity by George William Russell
A Mexican American woman whose parents emigrated from Jalisco, Macias sees “Pan’s Labyrinth” as a timeless movie that’s as relevant today as it was two decades ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Ma’s parents emigrated from China and eventually settled in New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
In line for selection was Basil D'Oliveira, a mixed-race all-rounder born in South Africa, who had emigrated to and qualified to play for England.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Particularly compelling is the partnership that arose between Cockenoe, an indigenous man from Long Island, and John Eliot, a Puritan minister who emigrated to Boston in 1631.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Oh, my husband and myself worried ourselves nearly to death. Of course, once we emigrated that worry vanished, fortunately forever.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
In their last conversation, he suggested emigrating to Hawaii where he believed mixed-race marriages were more acceptable.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Alex Golesh only discovered the game after emigrating to the U.S. from the Soviet Union.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
That simple, honorable point about the dignity of emigrating remains painfully controversial in Dean’s home country and here.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
And he, as a young boy, was part of the avocado trade before emigrating to the United States.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2026
European herders and farmers emigrating to other continents have also made serious efforts to domesticate some local species.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
