migrant

American  

[mahy-gruhnt] / ˈmaɪ grənt /

adjective

1. migrating, especially of people; migratory.

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noun

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

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adjective

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

Other Word Forms

• nonmigrant adjective
• unmigrant adjective

Etymology

Origin of migrant

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

Example Sentences

Sending migrants to Cameroon skirted judicial orders, lawyers said.

From The Wall Street Journal

I dutifully photographed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, for example, but what I remember most from that day is chatting with the African migrants selling selfie sticks in the surrounding streets.

From The Wall Street Journal

The community has been “shaken to its foundation,” said Ramirez, the founder of Justice for Migrant Women, a civil rights organization focusing on farmworker and migrant women.

From Salon

Who were these migrants, and where did they come from?

From Science Daily

Villahermosa lacks adequate services, with just one migrant shelter and no office of the federal agency that processes refugee applications.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler