migrant

American  

[mahy-gruhnt] / ˈmaɪ grənt /

adjective

1. migrating, especially of people; migratory.

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noun

1. a person or animal that migrates.

2. a person who attempts to permanently relocate to a new country, but who may be subject to removal by the government of that country: unaccompanied child migrants.

   undocumented migrants;

   unaccompanied child migrants.

3. Also called migrant worker.  a person who moves from place to place to get work, especially a farm laborer who harvests crops seasonally.

migrant British  

/ ˈmaɪɡrənt /

noun

1. a person or animal that moves from one region, place, or country to another

2. an itinerant agricultural worker who travels from one district to another

3. 1. an immigrant, esp a recent one

   2. ( as modifier )

      a migrant hostel

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adjective

1. moving from one region, place, or country to another; migratory

Other Word Forms

• nonmigrant adjective
• unmigrant adjective

Etymology

Origin of migrant

1665–75; < Latin migrant- (stem of migrāns ), present participle of migrāre. See migrate, -ant

Example Sentences

Deported not to their homelands but to unfamiliar cities deep inside Mexico, thousands of migrants are stranded in a dangerous, bureaucratic limbo with little support and no clear path forward.

From Los Angeles Times

Without current data, millions of urban migrants - often in informal jobs and housing - remain poorly captured in policy design, a gap laid bare during the pandemic.

From BBC

But it has been especially hard for the millions of migrants whose futures have now turned uncertain.

From BBC

Congress didn’t pass the first modern immigration law until 1875, and for much of history migrants “could freely enter the United States and take up permanent residence,” the government says.

From The Wall Street Journal

Europe's top economy is home to the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union at more than a million, many of whom arrived during the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-2016.

From Barron's

Related Words

• emigrant
• evacuee
• expatriate
• immigrant
• traveler