migrate

verb

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 adjective
migrator
ˈmī-ˌgrā-tər How to pronounce migrate (audio)
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some types migrate but many are year-round residents in the Southeast. Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 29 June 2025 And Uber, by far the largest ride-hailing service in the U.S. (and a major player in myriad global markets), has no interest in watching customers migrate to another app as human drivers become an anachronism. Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 27 June 2025 SportsCenter will later migrate to North Carolina and air its 6 p.m. show on Aug. 8 from the Little League Softball World Series in Greenville. Lauren-Kennedy Brown, Charlotte Observer, 20 June 2025 Great whites tend to migrate to cooler waters during the summer months after spending the winter in warmer conditions, which explains his swims from Florida to North Carolina, totaling about 1,870 miles since January. Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for migrate

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of migrate was circa 1623

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Migrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/migrate. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

migrate

verb
mi·​grate ˈmī-ˌgrāt How to pronounce migrate (audio)
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 How to pronounce migrate (audio) mī-ˈ How to pronounce migrate (audio)
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 adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on migrate

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