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

My grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Italy.

transitive verb

: to bring in or send as immigrants

helped immigrate them

Examples of immigrate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Cao, who immigrated to the United States with his family from Vietnam, served in the Navy for more than 30 years before retiring in 2021. — Miles J. Herszenhorn, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

His father, Max, was a traveling salesman who died when Nadler was 3, so he was raised by his mother, Betty, who had immigrated from Russia. — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026

Lisa Yamanaka, performance director for Three Trails Taiko, was born and raised in Kansas City after both of her parents immigrated from Kyoto. — Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2026

After briefly studying the nihonga style of painting in Kyoto, Kusama immigrated to America in 1958 at age 27. — Livia Caligor, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026

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
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate
• angulate

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