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

transitive verb

: to bring in or send as immigrants

Examples of immigrate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, Cuban natives are not eligible to apply for the 2026 round of the visa lottery, because more than 50,000 Cubans immigrated to the United States in the last five years, the department said. —Alia Shoaib, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025

Her father, originally from Mexico City, immigrated in the 1980s to Twin Falls. —Idaho Statesman, 3 Oct. 2025

Out of darkness, into advocacy Mercedes immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1998, arriving in New Jersey at the age of 17. —Alyssa N. Salcedo, jsonline.com, 1 Oct. 2025

Around the same time, Jared’s family immigrated from South Africa to that very town. —Peter White, Deadline, 29 Sep. 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