emigrant
emigrant Lexical Profile
emigrant Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who leaves their own country or region in order to settle permanently in another.
"As an emigrant from Ireland in the 1840s, her great-grandfather endured a perilous voyage across the Atlantic."
• adjective
Leaving one's native country or region to settle permanently in another; relating to or consisting of people who emigrate.
"The historian studied letters sent home by emigrant families during the nineteenth-century gold rush."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'emigrant' with 'immigrant': an emigrant is someone leaving their native country ('e-' meaning 'out'), whereas an immigrant is someone arriving in a new country ('im-' meaning 'in'). The same person is an emigrant from their country of origin and an immigrant to their destination country.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-18th century from French émigrant or directly from Latin emigrans, the present participle of emigrare ('to move out, depart from a place'), from e- ('out of') and migrare ('to move, shift').