immigrate

[im-i-greyt]

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verb (used without object), im·mi·grat·ed, im·mi·grat·ing.

to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence.

to pass or come into a new habitat or place, as an organism.

verb (used with object), im·mi·grat·ed, im·mi·grat·ing.

to introduce as settlers: to immigrate cheap labor.

Origin of immigrate

First recorded in 1615–25, immigrate is from the Latin word immigrātus (past participle of immigrāre to move into). See im-¹, migrate

Related formsim·mi·gra·tor, nounun·im·mi·grat·ing, adjective

Can be confusedemigrate immigrate migrate (see synonym study at migrate)

Synonym study

1. See migrate.

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

Related Words for immigrate

migrate, arrive, colonize, settle

Examples from the Web for immigrate

Contemporary Examples of immigrate

The irony in it, today, is that it encourages Jews from countries like France to immigrate into Israel, thus making it stronger.
Europe’s Jews Punished for Israel’s War
Eli Lake
July 25, 2014
It was easier for my family to leave the Soviet Union and immigrate to Canada!
Immigration Laws Have It All Backward
Ilya Shapiro
May 8, 2014
Scores of Chinese in Guangdong province began to immigrate to California through the Port of San Francisco.
‘The Search for General Tso’: The Origins of America’s Favorite Chinese Dish, General Tso’s Chicken
Marlow Stern
April 19, 2014
Many others have endured huge obstacles and lengthy waits to immigrate legally.
Can Jeb Bush Save the GOP and End Its Emerging Civil War?
John Avlon
March 5, 2013
They may change when we get married, immigrate to another country, or convert to another religion.
The Nameless Palestinian Prisoners
Laila Lalami
October 19, 2011

Historical Examples of immigrate

Do you object that the poor will be the only ones to immigrate to Palestine?
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
I should not want "the flower" of other nations to immigrate to our shores.
The Young Man and the World
Albert J. Beveridge
Is it for these things I give up wife, and patrie, and immigrate myself out of dear France?
Mike Flannery On Duty and Off
Ellis Parker Butler
Spaniards did not immigrate to any considerable extent, and negro slavery flourished on the seacoast.
The South American Republics, Part II (of 2)
Thomas C. Dawson
The real Portuguese immigrate in families and show very little money on landing.
The Old World in the New
Edward Alsworth Ross

British Dictionary definitions for immigrate

immigrate

verb

(intr) to come to a place or country of which one is not a native in order to settle thereCompare emigrate

(intr) (of an animal or plant) to migrate to a new geographical area

(tr) to introduce or bring in as an immigrant

Derived Formsimmigratory, adjectiveimmigrator, noun

Word Origin for immigrate

C17: from Latin immigrāre to go into, from im- + migrāre to move

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

Word Origin and History for immigrate

1620s, from Latin immigratum, past participle of imigrare "to remove, go into, move in," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + migrare "to move" (see migration). Related: Immigrated; immigrating.