migrant

American  

[mahy-gruhnt] / ˈmaɪ grənt /

adjective

1. migrating, especially of people; migratory.

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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

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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

More than 160,000 foreign nationals have departed South Africa over the past two months, according to an AFP tally based on figures from repatriating governments, in one of the country's largest recent migrant exoduses.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

But consent decrees are legally and politically complicated, and the treatment of migrant children further tangles the situation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

He imagines himself as a migrant: “I lived outside of Dallas / Rundown shack of a place / I was handcuffed and arrested / It don’t make no sense.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

In 2021 it was reported some 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died since it won the World Cup bid.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

The goods— belonging to migrant workers living alone in the city—were being sent to wives back in the tribal reserve.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Then there’s the fact that Nicaraguan migrants in the United States are a smaller and less powerful force than Cuban Americans, many of whom have lobbied Washington for decades to isolate and overthrow Havana’s leaders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Journeys typically begin in Teknaf, where migrants are packed onto trawlers before being transferred to larger vessels at sea.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

"It's a retaliation," March and March spokesperson Sandile Dube told the BBC, explaining how the movement believed he was targeted because of its campaign to get undocumented migrants to leave the country.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

March and March had set an unofficial deadline of 30 June for all migrants without papers to leave the country.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Dozens of migrants, children among them, emerge from the bushes, from behind the ceiba trees, and from among the tombs.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler