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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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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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:
He advises washing new clothes before wearing them, separately so chemicals don’t migrate into other clothes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
“This is likely the lowest risk option and still has meaningful runway, particularly as more dollars migrate into retail media networks and advertisers focus more on driving performance,” the analysts said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
But he said he believed this would just "delay the inevitable", so he is "planning to migrate to a similar but less good service".
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The perennial problem with horror, even contemporary horror, is that it’s an extremely difficult genre to migrate from.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Living on this artificial inland archipelago, native peoples ate a diet heavy in fish, which migrate and spawn in the flooded savannas.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
If two decades on those dance floors taught me anything, it is that the room always migrates.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Harmon alerted stakeholders, including Aiello, who was immediately concerned about how the wire might affect a herd of bighorn sheep that migrates across the border.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
When temperatures hit freezing, the northern jet set reliably migrates to St. Barts, a little slice of France in the Caribbean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
Some music insiders now hope that migrates over to music video sets.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
Everyone around us migrates toward the back of the room.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
One caveat: So much former junk-bond issuance has migrated to private credit that the signal may now be more muffled.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
Millions of consumers over the last decade have migrated from pricey packages offered by Spectrum and other cable companies to lower-cost streaming options.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
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 prevailing theory suggested that blue cones formed in the center of the retina and later migrated outward.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
If I didn’t feel like my heart had migrated to my throat, I would ask her what it signifies.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
"It also raises the question as to whether the helpful gains from more higher income shoppers migrating to Walmart are starting to fade," he wrote.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
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
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
Outside, horses graze in a meadow, migrating birds dip and rise in perfect formation.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
