immigrate

verb

im·​mi·​grate ˈi-mə-ˌgrāt 

immigrated; immigrating

intransitive verb

: to enter and usually become established

especially : to come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence

transitive verb

: to bring in or send as immigrants

Examples of immigrate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the 1970s, his family immigrated to the U.S., settling first in Massachusetts and then in California, outside of Los Angeles. —Alice Park, TIME, 5 Mar. 2025

Approximately 200,000 fewer Immediate Relatives of U.S. citizens immigrated between FY 2017 and 2019 than if admissions remained at the same level as FY 2016. —Stuart Anderson, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025

Last year, about 2.8 million people immigrated to the United States legally, according to the Census Bureau. —Bryan Mena, CNN, 2 Mar. 2025

Catch up quick: Unlike Brody's character, Breuer immigrated to the United States before World War II, thanks to the support of renowned architect Walter Gropius. —Sam Allard, Axios, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin immigratus, past participle of immigrare to remove, go in, from in- + migrare to migrate

First Known Use

circa 1623, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for immigrate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

immigrate

verb

im·​mi·​grate ˈim-ə-ˌgrāt 

immigrated; immigrating

: to come into a foreign country to live

immigration

ˌim-ə-ˈgrā-shən 

noun