Dictionary

migrate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈmaɪ.ɡɹeɪt/
• /maɪˈɡɹeɪt/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin migrātus, perfect passive participle of migrō (“to migrate, change, transport”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To relocate periodically from one region to another, usually according to the seasons.
   • Twice a year the Minnesotans migrate from their state to the Gulf of Mexico.
   • Twice a year the geese migrate — from Florida to Canada and back again.
2. (intransitive) To change one's geographic pattern of habitation.
   • Many groups had migrated to western Europe from the plains of eastern Europe.
3. (intransitive) To change habitations across a border; to move from one country or political region to another.
   • Little is more extraordinary than the decision to migrate, little more extraordinary than the accumulation of emotions and thoughts which finally leads a family to say farewell to a community where it has lived for centuries, to abandon old ties and familiar landmarks, and to sail across dark seas to a strange land. 1964, John F. Kennedy, “Why They Came”, in A Nation of Immigrants, Revised and Enlarged edition, Harper & Row, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 4:
   • To escape persecution, they migrated to a neutral country.
4. (intransitive) To move slowly towards, usually in groups.
   • Once the hosts started bickering in the kitchens, the guests began to migrate towards the living room.
5. (intransitive) To move gradually, especially from an intended to an unintended position.
   • Oil was able to migrate from the accessory gearbox into the magneto housing through the improperly installed gland seals.
   • It is very common for the position of the placenta to change as the uterus stretches and grows. An anterior placenta can migrate toward the top, sides, or back of the uterus as the weeks go on. 2022 August 13, Donna Murray, “What Is an Anterior Placenta? How placenta placement affects pregnancy, labor, and delivery”, in verywellfamily, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2023:
6. (transitive) To move computer code or files from one computer or network to another.
   • They had finished migrating all of the affected code to the production server by 2:00am, three hours later than expected.
7. (transitive) To induce customers to shift purchases from one set of a company's related products to another.
   • We were hoping to migrate the customers of the "C" series to the "E" series and the "E" customers to the "S" series.

Forms

Deriveds

comigrate · transmigrate · mismigrate · mismigrated · emigrate · migrator · migrative · nonmigrated · migration · countermigrate · nonmigrating · migratable · unmigrated · electromigrated · remigrate · overmigrate · immigrate · migratory · demigrate · outmigrate · abmigrate · unmigrate

Relateds

migrant

Translations (51)

ru переселя́ться (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · az köçürmək (to move computer code or files) · se fárret (to change habitations across a border) · fi muuttaa (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · ru переселя́ться (to change habitations across a border) · ru мигри́ровать (to change habitations across a border) · sv överföra (to move computer code or files) · mnc ᡤᡠᡵᡳᠮᠪᡳ (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · nb migrere (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · eo migri (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · sv flytta (to move computer code or files) · it migrare (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · ru пересели́ться (to change habitations across a border) · ca migrar (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · af migreer (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · fi vaeltaa (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · cmn 迁移 (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · es migrar (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · bg мигри́рам (to move slowly towards, usually in groups) · mi heke (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · ru мигри́ровать (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · ru пересели́ться (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · fi muuttaa (to change habitations across a border) · ru соверша́ть перелёт (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · el αποδημώ (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · fi saada siirtymään (marketing: to induce customers to shift purchases) · ru перенести́ (to move computer code or files) · bg мигри́рам (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · la migrō (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · bg мигри́рам (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · de migrieren (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · my ရွှေ့ပြောင်း (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · da migrere (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · ru мигри́ровать (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · sv migrera (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · fi vaeltaa (to change one's geographic pattern of habitation) · bg емигри́рам (to change habitations across a border) · fi valua (to move slowly towards, usually in groups) · hi प्रवास करना (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · el μετεγκαθιστώ (to move computer code or files) · ru мигри́ровать (to move slowly towards, usually in groups) · fi siirtää (to move computer code or files) · ru переноси́ть (to move computer code or files) · ru кочева́ть (to move slowly towards, usually in groups) · az köç etmək (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · cmn 迁徙 (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · ja 移行する (to move computer code or files) · sv migrera (to move computer code or files) · az köçmək (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · ro migra (to relocate periodically from one region to another) · nl migreren (to relocate periodically from one region to another)