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

Another 10 million current Americans hadn’t immigrated yet, to say nothing of our countrymen who have since died or the post-2001 arrivals who have yet to officially join the team. — Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 13 Nov. 2026

Her parents, Mohamad and Siham, immigrated to Colorado from Palestine in 1974. — Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Nov. 2026

Celmins fled with her family to Germany during the Soviet occupation of Latvia, then immigrated to Indiana. — Laura Zornosa, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026

For 42 years, an Oak Park man who had immigrated decades ago from Italy roamed residential streets on Chicago’s South Side, pushing an old-fashioned green and red cart outfitted with a sharpening stone. — Susan Degrane, Chicago Tribune, 7 Nov. 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