immigrant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪmɪɡɹənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin immigrāns, immigrantem, the present participle of immigrāre, to go into, move in (see immigrate),^[2][3][4] perhaps through French immigrant,^[2] and on the pattern of the older emigrant.^[5][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who immigrates: 1789 in Merriam-Webster, 1792 in American English in Etymonline and the OED.^[3][2][7]

Semantic evolution

It first appeared in Jeremy Belknap's History of New Hampshire (1792), and Belknap is generally credited with coining it; he defended immigrant, immigrate and immigration as formed from Latin migro as emerge and immerge are from mergo.^[2] As an adjective, immigrating, it is from 1805.^[7][2] An animal or plant that has spread into a new area is from 1880,^[7] and a cell that has migrated, in physiology, from 1885.^[7]

Timeline

• 1789 – first known use.^[3]
• 1792 – in Belknap's history.^[2]
• 1805 – the adjective.^[7]
• 1880 – an immigrant plant or animal.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
2. A plant or animal that becomes established in a new area.

Adjective

1. Of or being an immigrant: an immigrant community.

Word family

• nonimmigrant

Related words

• immigrate
• immigration
• emigrant
• migrant
• migrate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press