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

William Thalhimer immigrated to the Richmond area from Germany and opened opened a dry good store in 1843. —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 16 Nov. 2025

Anne is now the Latinx Anita (Olivia Bernábe), who immigrates into hiding with her Black mother (Austen Horne), her gay, neurodivergent father (Rocky Paterra), and her still Jewish sister (Anya van Hoogstraten). —Jillian Steinhauer, New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2025

After winning the visa lottery, Hizkias' father immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia in the 1990s. —Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025

Patsura immigrated to the US under the federal government’s Uniting for Ukraine program, a legal pathway for Ukrainians displaced by the war to temporarily live and work in the US. —Jeremy Herb, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025

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