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

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

Embolo has played his entire club career in Europe, first with Switzerland’s Basel youth academy after immigrating from Cameroon as a young child. — Amna Subhan, AJC.com, 26 Aug. 2026

Yousuf immigrated from Bangladesh and sent his wages back to support his large family, including two young daughters, aged 3 and 12, and his wife, mother and father, the restaurant’s co-owner told the Daily News. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 25 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