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

He was born and raised in Montreal – specifically in a borough called Montréal-Nord – to parents who immigrated from Haiti to Canada in their 20s. —Emile Nuh, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2026

Chacho Sánchez, who was from Cuenca, Ecuador, immigrated to New York City in 2012 and had been working for years at a clothing shipping warehouse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, when she was killed. —Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2026

The couple immigrated from Thailand long ago and worked hard to save that money over three decades. —Nicole Comstock, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2026

An eighth grader at South Miami Middle School, Kaleb recently immigrated from Cuba. —Miguel Sirgado, Miami Herald, 16 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