immigrant

[im-i-gruhnt]

noun

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

2. an organism found in a new habitat.

adjective

1. of or relating to immigrants and immigration.

   a department for immigrant affairs.

2. immigrating.

immigrant

/ ˈɪmɪɡrənt /

noun

1. 1. a person who comes to a country in order to settle there Compare emigrant

   2. ( as modifier )

      an immigrant community

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

Other Word Forms

• nonimmigrant noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of immigrant¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1780–90; from Latin immigrant-, stem of immigrāns “moving into,” present participle of immigrāre “to move into”; equivalent to im- ¹ + migrant

Example Sentences

Some industry analysts have said the Tricolor bankruptcy underscores the pressures on undocumented immigrants and other consumers with limited access to credit.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

He has said his family, immigrants from Europe, took the name “Ellison” after Ellis Island.

Read more on Barron's

For many Latino members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is an ambivalent sense of the Church’s stance on immigrants.

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In 1988, the criteria was expanded to include mothers who were in racial or ethnic groups at high risk of contracting the disease, such as Southeast Asian immigrants and Alaskan natives.

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One cannot even begin to understand from the identity model, for example, why, despite injustices, immigrants have long sought entry to the United States.

Read more on Wall Street Journal