migrant

American  

[mahy-gruhnt] / ˈmaɪ grənt /

adjective

1. migrating, especially of people; migratory.

---

noun

• migrants
  plural

1. a person or animal that migrates.

2. a person who attempts to permanently relocate to a new country, but who may be subject to removal by the government of that country: unaccompanied child migrants.

   undocumented migrants;

   unaccompanied child migrants.

3. Also called migrant worker.  a person who moves from place to place to get work, especially a farm laborer who harvests crops seasonally.

migrant British  

/ ˈmaɪɡrənt /

noun

1. a person or animal that moves from one region, place, or country to another

2. an itinerant agricultural worker who travels from one district to another

3. 1. an immigrant, esp a recent one

   2. ( as modifier )

      a migrant hostel

---

adjective

1. moving from one region, place, or country to another; migratory

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmigrant
  adjective
• unmigrant
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• migrants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of migrant

1665–75; < Latin migrant- (stem of migrāns ), present participle of migrāre. See migrate, -ant

Explanation

A migrant worker is someone who travels for a job––in the U.S., many farm workers migrate from Mexico every year to work on the harvest and then return home when their jobs are over. If you have traveled into a new country, you are said to have immigrated there, and you are an immigrant. An emigrant is someone who has left. Migrant doesn't refer to whether you are coming in or out––often it means someone who often travels back and forth, like migrant birds who migrate south every winter, year after year.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

migrant migrants

Five people have been detained and sent to border security command after a migrant boat reached Kent without being intercepted.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

"We see a rising dependence on migrant workers, tending towards absolute dependence."

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Spanish intelligence services warned of social media calls for a mass migrant crossing into Ceuta the day before tens of thousands of people entered the territory, newly released government documents show.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

It’s a precipitous drop from the thousands who crossed daily at the peak of a migrant surge in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Sometimes, a madrina rides the train and pretends to be a migrant.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

A teenager who piloted a dinghy carrying a then-record 165 migrants across the English Channel to the UK has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Most of the 72,000 migrants who breached the border from Morocco in July have returned, but it is believed that more than 13,000 remain in the enclave.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

After the ruling, some social media accounts spread misinformation and offered to help migrants cross the Spanish border for hundreds of pounds.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

The United States has deported more than 25,000 people under secretive agreements with 35 countries to take migrants with no ties to those nations, according to an investigation published Monday.

From Barron's

Having avoided the fate of many other migrants, Enrique reaches Ixtepec, a southern crossroads in Oaxaca, the next state north, 285 miles into Mexico.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler