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

Naveed Akram was born in Australia, while his father, Sajid, immigrated to the country in 1998, Home Affairs minister Tony Burke said on Monday. —Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 16 Dec. 2025

Sajid Akram, who was born into a Muslim family in India, immigrated in 1998 to Australia, where he got married and had a son and a daughter, Indian authorities told ABC News. —David Brennan, ABC News, 16 Dec. 2025

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Guerrero-Cruz immigrated from Chile and overstayed his visa by more than two years. —Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 12 Dec. 2025

Grossi is the son of Italian intellectuals—his mother was a sculptor, his father a journalist—who immigrated to Argentina. —Robin Wright, New Yorker, 12 Dec. 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