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

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is the primary agency for arresting and deporting immigrants inside the country but isn’t running the Chicago deployment.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

By June, Bass faced a different emergency: waves of masked and heavily armed federal agents apprehending immigrants at car washes, Home Depots and elsewhere, sparking furious street protests.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In Florida, Huddleston says she’s most worried for the immigrant community, many of whom are employed in agricultural hotspots like Miami Dade and Palm Beach.

Read more on Salon

Deportations are hurting industries that employ unauthorized immigrants such as construction, hotels and hospitality, and nondurable-goods manufacturing.

Read more on MarketWatch

Lest we forget our past, America is the great democratic experiment precisely because it’s a land of immigrants.

Read more on Los Angeles Times