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migrant

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Etymology and origin of the English word migrant

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1672
Borrowed from
Latin migrans
Ultimate origin
Latin migrō

Pronunciation

  • /ˈmaɪɡɹənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin migrāns (“moving, changing one's home”), the present participle of migrō (“to move from one place to another”),[2][3][4][5][6] with the ending that became -ant.[3][7] The same verb gave migrate and migration, emigrant and immigrant.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of animals, that migrates: 1672 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,[3][6] the 1670s in Etymonline,[4] and before 1682 in the OED, in Sir Thomas Browne.[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1665–75.[10]

Semantic evolution

The adjective was used of birds and other animals first, and of people, peoples and organizations by 1807.[2][4] As a noun it is recorded from 1760 for a person who moves from place to place,[2][4] from 1768 for a migratory bird or animal,[2] and in 1795 also for a person who settles in a new country or town, an immigrant.[2] In Australia it has meant a new immigrant since 1922,[2][7] and in South Africa, since 1948, a migrant labourer working away from home.[2] Botanists used it from 1874 for a plant whose range has spread into a new area.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 1672 – of animals, migrating.[3][6]
  • 1760 – a person who moves from place to place.[2][4]
  • 1768 – a migratory bird or animal.[2]
  • 1795 – a person settling in a new country, an immigrant.[2]
  • 1807 – of people, migrating.[2][4]
  • 1874 – a plant spreading into a new area.[2]
  • 1922 – (Australia) a new immigrant.[2]
  • 1948 – (South Africa) a migrant labourer.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who moves from one place or country to another, especially to find work: Seasonal migrants pick most of the region's fruit.
  2. An animal, especially a bird, that migrates with the seasons.
  3. (Australia) A recent immigrant.

Adjective

  1. Moving from one region or country to another; migratory.

Word family

  • nonmigrant
  • remigrant

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Migrant.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/migrant. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·