Dictionary

emigrate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɛmɪɡɹeɪt/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• ĕʹmĭ.grāt'
• /ˈɪmɪɡɹeɪt/ (pin-pen-merger)

Etymology

From Latin emigratus, perfect passive participle of emigro (“to move away, remove, depart from a place”), from ex- (“out of, from”) + migro (“to move, remove, depart”).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To leave the country in which one lives, especially one's native country, in order to reside elsewhere.
   • They [the Huns] were emigrating from Tartary into Europe in the time of the Goths. 1872, John Henry Newman, Historical Sketches:
   • Her family was planning to emigrate to the U.S. from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and couldn't afford school fees. 2025 November 13, Kamala Thiagarajan, “If you're going to be kind to another human, today is the day to do it!”, in NPR:
   • Forced to emigrate in a body to America. 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

immigrate

Deriveds

emigrator · unemigrating

Relateds

immigration · migration · migrate · emigrant · migratory · immigrant · immigrate · émigré · emigration

Translations (34)

fr émigrer (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · da udvandre (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · es emigrar (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · eo elmigri (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · cmn 移民 (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · ru переселя́ться (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · sv utvandra (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · ja 移民する (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · ru пересели́ться (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · clt pe (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · de emigrieren (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · cs emigrovat (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · it emigrare (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · cy ymfudo (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · ru эмигри́ровать (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · sq mërgoj (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · fi emigroitua (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · hu kivándorol (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · sv emigrera (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · hu emigrál (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · da emigrere (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · hi उत्प्रवास (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · pt emigrar (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · ca emigrar (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · hy արտագաղթել (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · cmn 移居 (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · fi muuttaa maasta (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · ja 移住する (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · nl emigreren (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · mi maunu (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · de auswandern (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · io emigrar (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · sq emigroj (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere) · pl emigrować (to leave one's country in order to reside elsewhere)