immigrant

American  

[im-i-gruhnt] / ˈɪm ɪ grənt /

noun

1. a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.

2. an organism found in a new habitat.

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adjective

1. of or relating to immigrants and immigration.

   a department for immigrant affairs.

2. immigrating.

immigrant British  

/ ˈɪmɪɡrənt /

noun

1. 1. a person who comes to a country in order to settle there Compare emigrant

   2. ( as modifier )

      an immigrant community

2. an animal or plant that lives or grows in a region to which it has recently migrated

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Other Word Forms

• nonimmigrant noun

Etymology

Origin of immigrant

An Americanism first recorded in 1780–90; from Latin immigrant-, stem of immigrāns “moving into,” present participle of immigrāre “to move into”; equivalent to im- ¹ + migrant

Example Sentences

Though immigration numbers to the city dropped, there were still enough immigrants to help the city grow for the third year in a row.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Kim’s Convenience” may not win points for originality, but originality isn’t really the point of an immigrant family drama meant to be instantly, one might say universally, recognizable.

From Los Angeles Times

However, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics identified a sustained decline in immigrants to Israel following the Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal

At this year's awards, held on March 15, Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" -- a wild tale of leftist revolutionaries, white supremacists and immigrant detention centers -- was crowned as best picture.

From Barron's

According to Paul Gowder, professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, airports are liminal spaces for immigrants where constitutional protections thin out.

From Salon