: departing or having departed from a country to settle elsewhere
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an emigrant and an immigrant?
Immigrant and emigrant both refer to a person leaving their own country for another. However, immigrant (and its verb form _immigrate) typically stress the country going to, while emigrant (and its verb emigrate) stress the country coming from. One is an immigrant to a new country, and an emigrant from an old one. See here for more on the difference between emigrant and immigrant.
Is emigrant a noun or a verb?
Emigrant is a noun, meaning "one who leaves one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere." It is synonymous with émigré, a word that is especially used of a person who has left for political reasons. The verb form of the word is emigrate.
Does emigrant imply illegality?
Both emigrant and immigrant refer to a person who has moved from one country to another, usually in permanent or semi-permanent fashion. Neither word by itself has any connotations of illegality.
Noun
Millions of European emigrants came to America in the 19th century.
a city with emigrants from many lands
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Low wages Data shows that neighboring Australia is the most frequent destination for New Zealand’s emigrants.—Dylan Butts, CNBC, 6 Sep. 2024 This shelf-stable snack served as an incredible source of protein among emigrants traveling along The Overland Trail during the mid-19th century.—Josh Miller, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2024
Adjective
McDonald-Gibson points out the irony of central and eastern Europeans vilifying asylum seekers even as their own countries’ emigrant citizens are denigrated across western Europe, where millions of Czechs, Poles, Slovaks, and others have gone to work in the past decade.—Elizabeth Collett, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2017 Waltz and Dafoe are wily and meticulous as emigrant and southern-rebel types, both seen leaning back, crossing their legs like Henry Fonda’s contemplative Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine.—Armond White, National Review, 30 Dec. 2022 See all Example Sentences for emigrant
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'emigrant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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