migrant

noun

mi·​grant ˈmī-grənt 

plural migrants

: someone or something that migrates: such as

a

: a person who moves regularly in order to find work especially in harvesting crops

farms employing migrants during the growing season

b

: immigrant sense a

especially : refugee

… administration officials announced they would work to swiftly screen migrants seeking asylum at the border … and penalize people who cross illegally into the U.S. or illegally through another country on their way to the U.S. border.

—Colleen Long

c

: an animal (such as a gray whale, monarch butterfly, leatherback sea turtle, or Canada goose) that moves usually long distances from one habitat or geographic region to another

migrant adjective

migrant labor

migrant birds

Synonyms

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

Examples of migrant in a Sentence

migrants in search of work on farms

Not all birds are migrants.

Recent Examples on the Web

Mexico only accepts its own citizens and migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. —Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, 13 June 2024

Six people thought to be migrants have died due to the heat wave along the U.S. border between southwestern Texas and New Mexico, per CNN. —Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 June 2024

In order to get to the border these days, migrants almost always have to pay. —Matt Rivers, ABC News, 10 June 2024

The executive action bars migrants if the number encountered by border agents exceeds a daily average of 2,500. —Andrew Torgan, CNN, 9 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin migrant-, migrans, present participle of migrare

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing migrant

• in-migrant
• out-migrant

Kids Definition

migrant

noun

mi·​grant ˈmī-grənt 

: a person, animal, or plant that migrates

migrant adjective