migrate

verb

mi·​grate ˈmī-ˌgrāt  mī-ˈgrāt 

migrated; migrating; migrates

1

intransitive : to move from one country, place, or locality to another

Thousands of workers migrate to this area in the summer.

In another Bavarian village, … 48 out of its total Jewish population of 225 migrated to America between 1834 and 1853, mostly to Cleveland.

—Jonathan D. Sarna

… the Carolinas benefited when manufacturing migrated first from … England to the mill towns of New England and then to here, where labor was even cheaper …

—Stephanie Clifford

2

intransitive : to pass usually periodically from one region or climate to another for feeding or breeding

The whales migrate between their feeding ground in the north and their breeding ground in the Caribbean.

… migrating birds making the long flight over Lake Erie from the United States to Canada drop to the nearest available ground after the crossing.

—Kathryn K. Rushing

3

transitive : to relocate (information) from storage or operation on one computer or computer system to another

In this release we've made further improvements and changes, such as support to migrate files from the legacy model to the new … storage model, and better management of cached files.

—Dave Burke

Work-from-home mandates will most likely be experienced again, so companies are adding work-from-home technology to their business continuity planning. This includes accelerating considerations and plans to migrate applications and file servers to the cloud …

—Steve Shoemake and Franzuha Byrd

4

intransitive : to change position or location in an organism or substance

filarial worms migrate within the human body

migratable

ˈmī-ˌgrā-tə-bəl 

mī-ˈgrā-

adjective

migrator

ˈmī-ˌgrā-tər 

mī-ˈgrā-

noun

plural migrators

While … some birds that migrate at night take directional cues from polarized light at twilight, there has been little evidence that daytime migrators make direct use of the sun.

—Henry Fountain

Examples of migrate in a Sentence

He migrates from New York to Florida each winter.

Thousands of workers migrate to this area each summer.

The whales migrate between their feeding ground in the north and their breeding ground in the Caribbean.

They followed the migrating herds of buffalo across the plains.

Recent Examples on the Web

In other plastic news An investigation by The Times showed that industry has been aware microplastics could migrate throughout the human body after ingestion for at least a half-century. — Susanne Rust follow, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

However, cases among livestock have migrated up through the southern border over the past year. — ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026

For example, existing inspectors general that operate in state agencies will migrate to the new office. — Caroline Cummings, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026

Harvest wild rice by canoe in Minnesota Centuries ago, the Anishinaabe migrated from the Atlantic coast to the western Great Lakes region. — Tovar Cerulli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin migratus, past participle of migrare; perhaps akin to Greek ameibein to change

First Known Use

circa 1623, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing migrate

• in-migrate
• out-migrate

Rhymes for migrate

• abate
• airfreight
• await
• baseplate
• berate
• birthdate
• birthrate
• bookplate
• borate
• breastplate
• bromate
• casemate

Kids Definition

migrate

verb

mi·​grate ˈmī-ˌgrāt 

migrated; migrating

1

: to move from one country, place, or locality to another

2

: to pass from one region or climate to another usually on a regular schedule for feeding or breeding

3

: to change position or location in a living thing or substance

parasitic worms migrating from the lungs to the liver

Medical Definition

migrate

intransitive verb

mi·​grate ˈmī-ˌgrāt  mī-ˈ 

migrated; migrating

: to move from one place to another: as

a

: to move from one site to another in a host organism especially as part of a life cycle

filarial worms migrate within the human body

b

of an atom or group : to shift position within a molecule

migratory

ˈmī-grə-ˌtōr-ē, -ˌtȯr- 

adjective