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

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

The transformation also has losers: renters outside big cities, where there are fewer new jobs and shrinking public services, and urban, low-income migrant communities that have historically been more dependent on the state.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026

Walking through parts of Minneapolis, home to several migrant communities, the impact of the raids is still visible - even if daily life is slowly beginning to return to some normality and schools have reopened.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

Pope Leo XIV on Friday named a former undocumented migrant as bishop of West Virginia, weeks after a high-profile clash with US President Donald Trump.

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

Mexican officialdom is well aware that the Mexican economy is kept afloat by a combination of migrant remittances and North American market access.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

He is among the 20 to 30 percent of those boarding the trains in Tapachula who are fifteen or under, by estimate of Grupo Beta, a government migrant rights group in Chiapas.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler