migration
Americannoun
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the act or an instance of migrating
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a group of people, birds, etc, migrating in a body
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chem a movement of atoms, ions, or molecules, such as the motion of ions in solution under the influence of electric fields
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The seasonal movement of a complete population of animals from one area to another. Migration is usually a response to changes in temperature, food supply, or the amount of daylight, and is often undertaken for the purpose of breeding. Mammals, insects, fish, and birds all migrate. The precise mechanism of navigation during migration is not fully understood, although for birds it is believed that sharp eyesight, sensibility to the Earth's magnetic field, and the positions of the Sun and other stars may play a role.
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The movement of one atom or more, or of a double bond, from one position to another within a molecule.
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The movement of ions between electrodes during electrolysis.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of migration
First recorded in 1605–15, migration is from the Latin word migrātīon- (stem of migrātiō ). See migrate, -ion
Explanation
Migration is the movement of either people or animals from one area to another. Look up in the trees, where you might see a Monarch butterfly make a stop on its migration to Mexico. Migration can be used for the journey from one place to another or for the act of movement. Thousands of mid-western farmers made the migration to California during the dust bowl. Demographers have noted the migration of young people to the big cities presumably for work. With animals, it’s almost always in reference to a seasonal change in location. On boat tours, you can see the whales during their annual migration down the West coast.
Vocabulary lists containing migration
Words of a Feather: Unflappable Avian Vocabulary
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Human Geography - Middle School
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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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:
President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged concerns over migration but has urged citizens not to take the law into their own hands.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The sacs survived pressures equal to those found at depths of more than 400 meters, which is far deeper than the larvae normally travel during their daily migration.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
It will use electronic tags to pinpoint migration routes, areas where they live, and how sharks respond to capture and release by anglers.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
She also reported from Europe and South America, covering politics, migration, development and sports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The window of migration had closed for Frightful.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Since the indexes are weighted by market cap, migrations prevent large companies from dramatically skewing the performance of indexes meant for smaller companies.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Human survival drove these migrations, and access to prey animals was critical.
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026
Fish species that undertake mammoth migrations through rivers, lakes and ponds are facing a combined threat from dams, pollution and overfishing preventing them from reaching their breeding grounds.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
But over hundreds of millennia, human migrations resulted in interbreeding, researchers say.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
The ancestors of modern speakers of Thai, Lao, and Burmese all moved south from South China and adjacent areas to their present locations within historical times, successively inundating the settled descendants of previous migrations.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
