emigrant

1 of 2

noun

em·​i·​grant ˈe-mi-grənt 

1

: one who emigrates

2

: a migrant plant or animal

emigrant

2 of 2

adjective

: departing or having departed from a country to settle elsewhere

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an emigrant and an immigrant?

Immigrant and emigrant both refer to a person leaving their own country for another. However, immigrant (and its verb form immigrate) typically stresses the country someone is going to, while emigrant (and its verb emigrate) stresses the country someone is coming from. One is an immigrant to a new country, and an emigrant from an old one. See here for more on the difference between emigrant and immigrant.

Is emigrant a noun or a verb?

Emigrant is a noun, meaning "one who leaves one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere." It is synonymous with émigré, a word that is especially used of a person who has left for political reasons. The verb form of the word is emigrate.

Does emigrant imply illegality?

Both emigrant and immigrant refer to a person who has moved from one country to another, usually in permanent or semi-permanent fashion. Neither word by itself has any connotations of illegality.

Synonyms

Noun

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

Examples of emigrant in a Sentence

Noun

Millions of European emigrants came to America in the 19th century.

a city with emigrants from many lands

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Read: Hong Kong is self-destructing Since 2019, more than 5,000 emigrants have moved to the South London borough of Sutton, where a local group organized a camp in 2023 to educate children of the Hong Kong diaspora about Chinese repression. —Cora Engelbrecht, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2025

In the massacre, settlers of the LDS Church involved in a territorial militia killed 120 American western emigrants. —Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2025

Adjective

There is also the emigrant story: the story of how Kal-El – Superman’s name at birth – was driven from his home on Planet Krypton to embrace a new land. —Miriam Eve Mora, The Conversation, 14 Mar. 2025

Settlers traveling on emigrant trails largely raced through the region’s desert playas on their way to more productive lands in California and Oregon. —James Pogue, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1732, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1747, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

emigrant

noun

em·​i·​grant

ˈem-i-grənt

1

: one that emigrates

2

: a migrant plant or animal

emigrant adjective