emigrant

1 of 2

noun

em·​i·​grant ˈe-mi-grənt 

1

: one who emigrates

2

: a migrant plant or animal

emigrant

2 of 2

adjective

: departing or having departed from a country to settle elsewhere

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an emigrant and an immigrant?

Immigrant and emigrant both refer to a person leaving their own country for another. However, immigrant (and its verb form immigrate) typically stresses the country someone is going to, while emigrant (and its verb emigrate) stresses the country someone is coming from. One is an immigrant to a new country, and an emigrant from an old one. See here for more on the difference between emigrant and immigrant.

Is emigrant a noun or a verb?

Emigrant is a noun, meaning "one who leaves one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere." It is synonymous with émigré, a word that is especially used of a person who has left for political reasons. The verb form of the word is emigrate.

Does emigrant imply illegality?

Both emigrant and immigrant refer to a person who has moved from one country to another, usually in permanent or semi-permanent fashion. Neither word by itself has any connotations of illegality.

Synonyms

Noun

• émigré
• emigré
• immigrant
• incomer [chiefly British]
• in-migrant
• migrant
• out-migrant
• settler

Examples of emigrant in a Sentence

Noun

Millions of European emigrants came to America in the 19th century.

a city with emigrants from many lands

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Many emigrants may be retirees, who don’t have occupational reasons to stay in the high-cost state and may have sizable equity in their homes to pocket for a move to a cheaper location; about 7.5 million of California’s residents today are older than 65. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024

On May 21, 1849, C. F. Carl (Charles) Steinhagen, early Texas cabinetmaker and German emigrant, arrived in Galveston from Bremen aboard the Galliott Flora. —Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 24 May 2024

Adjective

That could change after Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, an epic drama (complete with 15-minute intermission) in which an emigrant Hungarian architect, László Toth (Adrien Brody), seeks political asylum, and a creative outlet, in post-war America. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 22 Nov. 2024

McDonald-Gibson points out the irony of central and eastern Europeans vilifying asylum seekers even as their own countries’ emigrant citizens are denigrated across western Europe, where millions of Czechs, Poles, Slovaks, and others have gone to work in the past decade. —Elizabeth Collett, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1732, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1747, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

emigrant

noun

em·​i·​grant

ˈem-i-grənt

1

: one that emigrates

2

: a migrant plant or animal

emigrant adjective