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immigro

Etymology and origin of the Latin word immigro

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂meygʷ-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin migro
Latin admigro
Latin transmigro
Latin demigro
Latin commigro
Latin immigro

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɪm.mɪ.ɡroː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈim.mi.ɡro][1]

Forms

immigrō (present infinitive immigrāre, perfect active immigrāvī, supine immigrātum); first conjugation, no passive[1] Also spelled inmigrō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + migrō (“to move, migrate”).[2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨migrō⟩ from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mi-gʷ-ro- (“changing”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἀμείβω (ameíbō, “to change”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus' Persa.[5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to go and take up residence in a place, move into, as of a house and gardens in Cicero, and Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to go into, remove.[7] English immigrate (1620s) is from its participle immigrātus.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[3][6]
  • 1620s – English immigrate is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To move into, take up residence in, immigrate.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Immigro.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/immigro. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·