emigrant:

(also ‘emigree‘; plural: ‘emigrants‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘g’ is said with a ‘g’ sound as in “ground”; the opposite word in meaning ‘immigrant’)

‘to emigrate’ = to leave one’s own country in order to go to another country to live there

a person who emigrates,

a family of emigrants leaving their home-town

e.g.

There are millions of emigrant workers in Europe and the Americas.

When people get dissatisfied with the social, political and financial conditions in their homeland, they become emigrants and wait for an opportunity or create an opportunity to emigrate to other foreign lands.

Refugees and asylum seekers are not considered as emigrants because they do not leave their country own their own interest but because they are forced to leave due to other political or military reasons.

It is to be noted that not all emigrants from one country go to another country as labourers just for money or as asylum seekers, there are some that go for better weather conditions and some other on business ventures.

Compare: immigrant & migrant
For an article that explains what an emigrant is in comparison with an immigrant, please click here, for a government notification of Philippine regarding its emigrants, please click here, for an article that discusses one of several causes for people to emigrate from their homeland, please click here. For an excellent article that explains the difference between an immigrant and an emigrant, please click here.

emigrants about to board a plane

Note: ‘Emigrant’, ‘immigrant’ and ‘migrant’ are the three words that are related to ‘moving from one place to another place’; however, there is a clear distinction between them. ‘Emigrant’, noun and adjective, refers to a person or animal that leaves the place of origin and moves to a new, usually a foreign country; ‘immigrant’, noun and adjective, refers to a person or animal that enters a new place or country, leaving the place of origin, in order to settle there permanently, and ‘migrant’, noun and adjective, refers to a person or animal that leaves the place of origin and moves to another place either within their own region, state or country or to a foreign country or land in order to find food, work or safety.

If directed from Words Often Confused, back to “emigrate ~ immigrate“.    Return to “immigrant“

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

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