immigrant

[ im-i-gruh nt ]

/ ˈɪm ɪ grənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR immigrant ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.

an organism found in a new habitat.

adjective

of or relating to immigrants and immigration: a department for immigrant affairs.

immigrating.

Nearby words

immersionism, immersive, immesh, immethodical, immie, immigrant, immigrate, immigration, immigration and nationality act, imminence, imminent

Origin of immigrant

1780–90, Americanism; < Latin immigrant- (stem of immigrāns), present participle of immigrāre to move into. See im-¹, migrant

Related forms

non·im·mi·grant, noun, adjective

Can be confused

emigrant immigrant migrant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for immigrant

He was born in an apartment above the grocery store owned by his immigrant parents in South Jamaica, Queens.
Mario Cuomo, a Frustrating Hero to Democrats, Is Dead at 82|Eleanor Clift|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
None of these writers set out to write an “immigrant novel,” or to make political statements.
The 2014 Novel of the Year|Nathaniel Rich|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was treated like an immigrant, working for minimum wage, missing his family and having to move on from his musical career.
Cuban Hip-Hop Was Born in Alamar|Daniel Levin|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Over the years, this country has offered many of its immigrant groups a remarkable opportunity for reinvention.
COEXIST’s Bonehead Bumper-Sticker Politics|Michael Schulson|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The country was building houses at a rapid clip, which required a large amount of immigrant labor.
Legal but Still Poor: The Economic Consequences of Amnesty|Joel Kotkin|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yet women of the "new" immigrant groups enter domestic service much less than those from the "old" ones.
New Homes for Old|Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge
He was the son of an Irish immigrant, and born in Pennsylvania in 1765.
American Merchant Ships and Sailors|Willis J. Abbot
The presence of the immigrant has prevented a wage advance which otherwise must have occurred.
The Old World in the New|Edward Alsworth Ross
It is certain that no immigrant is more loyal to wife and child than the Irishman.
The Old World in the New|Edward Alsworth Ross
If there is any type of immigrant that we need above all others it struck me that Mike Hudak is that type.
Charities and the Commons: The Pittsburgh Survey, Part I: The People|Various

British Dictionary definitions for immigrant

immigrant

/ (ˈɪmɪɡrənt) /

noun

a person who comes to a country in order to settle thereCompare emigrant
(as modifier)an immigrant community

an animal or plant that lives or grows in a region to which it has recently migrated

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012