migrate
Americanverb (used without object)
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migrates,
present (3rd person singular)
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migrated,
past participle, past
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migrating
present participle
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to go from one country, region, or place to another.
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to pass periodically from one region or climate to another, as certain birds, fishes, and animals.
The birds migrate southward in the winter.
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to shift, as from one system, mode of operation, or enterprise to another.
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Physiology. (of a cell, tissue, etc.) to move from one region of the body to another, as in embryonic development.
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Chemistry.
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(of ions) to move toward an electrode during electrolysis.
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(of atoms within a molecule) to change position.
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(at British universities) to change or transfer from one college to another.
verb
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to go from one region, country, or place of abode to settle in another, esp in a foreign country
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(of birds, fishes, etc) to journey between different areas at specific times of the year
Synonym Usage
Migrate, emigrate, immigrate are used of changing one's abode from one country or part of a country to another. To migrate is to make such a move either once or repeatedly: to migrate from Ireland to the United States. To emigrate is to leave a country, usually one's own (and take up residence in another): Each year many people emigrate from Europe. To immigrate is to enter and settle in a country not one's own: There are many inducements to immigrate to South America. Migrate is applied both to people or to animals that move from one region to another, especially periodically; the other terms are generally applied to movements of people.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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migratornoun
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intermigrateverb (used without object)
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remigrateverb (used without object)
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nonmigratingadjective
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unmigratingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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migratesimple
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migratessimple
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have migratedperfect
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has migratedperfect
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am migratingprogressive
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are migratingprogressive
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is migratingprogressive
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have been migratingperfect progressive
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has been migratingperfect progressive
Past
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migratedsimple
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had migratedperfect
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was migratingprogressive
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were migratingprogressive
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had been migratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of migrate
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin migrātus (past participle of migrāre “to move from place to place, change position or abode”), equivalent to migrā- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To migrate means to move from one place to another, sometimes part of a back-and-forth pattern, and sometimes to stay. When we think of the word migrate we think of movement from place to place. Sometimes that movement is seasonal, as when birds migrate north in summer and south in winter. But sometimes a person or group will migrate from one place to another with the intention of settling there. In both cases, there is a definite shift in locales, one temporary, the other permanent.
Vocabulary lists containing migrate
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Under that model, immune cells from elsewhere in the body were not expected to migrate into the brain and become part of this population.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tucking into pie, mash and liquor is the latest family to migrate to the Essex coast.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
"Mosquitoes can migrate with the wind, so it depends on the geography of the environment."
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Fox Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch has raised concerns about the damage to broadcast networks such as Fox if more NFL games migrate to streaming, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The sun had changed only a few seconds at the equator, but it was telling her body to migrate.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
While Major League Soccer, the highest professional league in the U.S., is growing in popularity, top soccer talent generally migrates to European soccer leagues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
If left untreated, it typically migrates through the optic nerve to the brain, eventually metastasizing and taking the life of the child.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025
The population of bowhead whales that migrates between the Bering and Beaufort Seas each year is a conservation success story, with today's population nearing -- if not exceeding -- pre-commercial whaling numbers.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024
Adichie’s novel stretches across three continents and charts the lives of the secondary-school lovers Ifemelu, who migrates to the United States, and Obinze, who heads to Britain.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
“A whale migrates but it doesn’t have a home.”
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
When regulators shut down some offending WeChat accounts, the operators simply migrated to other platforms such as Douyin, Banyuetan said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The children just quietly migrated, one by one, to better-equipped schools.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
HBO Max’s Emmy Award-winning drama has become a much-needed boost for Hollywood after much of the local film and TV industry migrated to regions offering more generous tax rebates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
These ancient and relatively unchanged objects formed early in solar system history and may help scientists better understand how the planets formed and migrated before settling into their present-day positions.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
The truck was under five feet of water and had migrated half a block.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Showers are expected to ease from the north during the morning, migrating southwards into other parts of Wales as well as central and southern England where a few downpours could still be heavy and thundery.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
As a teenager in 1992, Lobga joined an outflow of Tibetans migrating to India, which involves a dangerous monthlong trek across the Himalayas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Much of AI adoption thus far has involved migrating a company’s “proprietary way of doing things, their alpha, into the lab models, and that’s where the negative sentiment is in an enterprise,” Karp said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
When migrating human populations entered unfamiliar environments, genes inherited from other hominins may have helped them respond to new diseases, climates, or foods.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
“She is a peregrine falcon, or a duck hawk, as these wonderful birds were once called. “She was late in migrating south this year and came over White Man Mountain on a chilly day.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
