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

Our translator rang the number and pretended to be a would-be migrant who had the money to fly his whole family to the UK.

From BBC • May 12, 2026

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

Separately, Utopia 56, a migrant aid association, described the two victims as a 16-year-old child and a 20-year-old woman.

From Barron's • May 3, 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

There were a couple of hostels, giant projects built by the government for housing migrant workers.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler