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

But the research process also gave Radford a unique opportunity to really dig into the history of her own family, who immigrated from Jamaica to Cuba before landing in the United States. —Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 4 May 2026

Alanna O’Reilly, who joined over Facetime, immigrated from Dublin and is currently living in Miami. —Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026

Law of Return, Israeli law, passed by the Knesset (parliament) in July 1950, that grants Jews the right to immigrate (or make aliyah) to the country and receive Israeli citizenship. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026

Michlelet Bruriah, for example, was founded by two American Jews who immigrated to Israel in the 1960s. —Michal Raucher, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 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
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

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