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migratory

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Etymology and origin of the English word migratory

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1708 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
Borrowed from
Latin migratorius
Ultimate origin
Latin migrō

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌmaɪˈɡɹeɪ.tə.ɹi/[1]
  • US: /ˈmaɪ.ɡɹəˌtɔɹ.i/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin migrātōrius,[2][3] formed from Latin migrātus, the past participle of migrō (“to move from one place to another”), and the suffix -ōrius;[2][3][4][5] the OED allows that it may also have been formed independently in English from migrate and -ory,[3] as the Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com take it.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of an animal, given to migration, especially seasonal migration: 1708, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[3][2] Etymonline dates the adjective to 1753, in the sense "given to migration, roving from place to place".[4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin adjective was already used in 1676 by Willughby and Ray for birds that arrive and leave at fixed seasons, which Ray translated in 1678 as "birds of passage".[3] From birds and animals the word passed to people: from 1755, in Johnson's Dictionary, of peoples moving from place to place, nomadic;[3] since 1838 also of people moving for good from one country or place to another.[3] The general sense "of or relating to migration" is recorded before 1797, in Burke,[3] and by 1757 in Etymonline.[4] In the 20th century Merriam-Webster records its use for seasonal workers who move with the demand for labour.[2] In medicine it was used from 1874 of cells moving within the body, and since 1879 of pains or conditions that move from one joint or part to another.[3][2] A migratory locust is any of several locusts that swarm and migrate in vast numbers.[6]

Timeline

  • 1708 – of animals, given to migration.[3][2] Etymonline dates the word to 1753.[4]
  • 1755 – of people, nomadic, roving.[3]
  • before 1797 – of or relating to migration.[3] Etymonline dates this sense by 1757.[4]
  • 1838 – of people, moving permanently to another country or place.[3]
  • 1866 – noun, a migratory person or bird (rare).[3]
  • 1874 – in medicine, of cells moving within the body.[3]
  • 1879 – of pains, moving from one joint or part of the body to another.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of animals, moving regularly from one region or climate to another: migratory geese.[8][2][3]
  2. Of, relating to or involving migration: the migratory routes of whales.[8][2][3]
  3. Of people, moving from place to place, especially to follow seasonal work; nomadic or itinerant: a migratory fruit picker.[8][2][3]
  4. (medicine) Moving from one part of the body to another, as a cell or a pain in the joints.[2][3]

Noun

  1. (rare) A migrant.[2][3]

Word family

  • premigratory
  • nonmigratory
  • migratory locust

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Migratory.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/migratory. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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