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

Herdman found success in part by making the recruitment of dual nationals a priority, starting four of them — including Alphonso Davies, who immigrated to Canada from a refugee camp in Ghana — in Qatar. — Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026

Garcia immigrated from Colombia at 16 and spent a year in adult education learning English alongside other immigrants after being unable to enroll in high school. — Valentina Toro, Hartford Courant, 19 June 2026

Her mother’s family immigrated from the Bahamas in 1903 and settled in Overtown. — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 18 June 2026

The investigation also cited accounts from the victim’s son, who told detectives that his mother married Mao in China a decade ago and that last October, Mao immigrated to Roseville to live with her, followed by Mao moving by himself to San Jose in February. — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 17 June 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