immigrant

noun

im·​mi·​grant ˈi-mə-grənt How to pronounce immigrant (audio)
: one that immigrates: such as
a
: a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence
b
: a plant or animal that becomes established in an area where it was previously unknown
immigrant adjective

Did you know?

immigrant or emigrant?

Both of these words come from the Latin migrare (“to move from one place to another”), and both have definitions in English that hew closely to their etymological roots, but there is a definite difference between how you would use each one. Emigrant is used in reference to the country that has been left (“an emigrant from Canada”), while immigrant is used in reference the country that one is destined for (“an immigrant to Spain”).

Examples of immigrant in a Sentence

Millions of immigrants came to America from Europe in the 19th century. The city has a large immigrant population.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
About 24% of Houston’s population are immigrants, according to Census Bureau data. Ramon Padilla, USA Today, 21 June 2025 Whether or not influencers should share political beliefs online has been a contentious debate for years, but amid President Donald Trump’s second administration, crackdowns on health care, college protesters, and immigrants, this discourse has been pushed to the forefront. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 21 June 2025 And this is what the administration is trying to do to dehumanize me, to dehumanize the immigrants, to dehumanize anyone who actually does not agree with what the administration is doing. Armando Garcia, ABC News, 21 June 2025 Yet my parents, both Indian immigrants, knew few Sikh boys in the United States who had been raised with long hair. Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 21 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for immigrant

Word History

First Known Use

1788, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of immigrant was in 1788

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Immigrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immigrant. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

immigrant

noun
im·​mi·​grant ˈim-i-grənt How to pronounce immigrant (audio)
1
: a person who comes to a country to live there
2
: a plant or animal that becomes established in an area where it did not occur previously
immigrant adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on immigrant

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!