immigrate

UK: /ˈɪmɪgreɪt/ US: /ˈɪmɪˌgreɪt/ ,(im′i grāt′)

Inflections of 'immigrate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

immigrates

v 3rd person singular

immigrating

v pres p

immigrated

v past

immigrated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

im•mi•grate /ˈɪmɪˌgreɪt/   v. [~ + to + object] , -grat•ed, -grat•ing. 

1. to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually to live there permanently:
   They immigrated to the United States in the 1850's.

See -migr-. Usage

Note carefully the difference between emigrate and immigrate, both of which involve travel and a country. When you emigrate you come out of a country, or leave it; the preposition to use is from:
She found it hard to emigrate from her home country.
With immigrate the action is to the new country you are going toward or entering; the preposition is usually to:
She immigrated to the United States in 1907.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

im•mi•grate  (im′i grāt′), v., -grat•ed, -grat•ing. 
v.i. 

1. to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence.
2. to pass or come into a new habitat or place, as an organism.

v.t. 

3. to introduce as settlers:
   to immigrate cheap labor.

• Latin immigrātus (past participle of immigrāre to move into). See im-¹, migrate
• 1615–25

im′mi•gra′tor, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. See migrate. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

immigrate / ˈɪmɪˌɡreɪt/ verb

1. (intransitive) to come to a place or country of which one is not a native in order to settle there
   Compare emigrate
2. (transitive) to introduce or bring in as an immigrant

Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin immigrāre to go into, from im- + migrāre to move

ˈimmiˌgratory adjective

ˈimmiˌgrator noun