What does emigrated mean?
"Emigrated" is the past tense and past participle of the verb "emigrate", meaning that someone left their country of origin in order to establish permanent residence in another. The word carries no inherent judgment — it simply records the act of departure, which is why it features so prominently in family histories, biographies, and accounts of large-scale population movements such as the nineteenth-century waves from Europe to North America. It is conventionally paired with "from" to mark the homeland being left and "to" for the destination, as in "she emigrated from Ireland to Argentina." Because English also has "immigrated" — describing the same journey from the receiving country's perspective — writers should choose based on viewpoint: one emigrates out of a place and immigrates into one. Derived forms include "emigrant", a person who leaves, and "emigration", the process itself. The word derives ultimately from the Latin "migrare", meaning to move, the same root behind "migrate" and "migration".
verbPast tense and past participle of "emigrate": to leave one's own country in order to settle permanently in another.
- To have left one's country or region of residence in order to settle permanently elsewhere.
"Her grandparents emigrated from Poland to Canada after the war."
"After the factory closed, thousands of workers emigrated in search of steady employment."
"He emigrated to Australia in 1998 and became a citizen five years later."
Whether you say someone 'emigrated' or 'immigrated' depends entirely on where you're standing — the very same journey gets two different names depending on which border you're looking at.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of emigrated
"Emigrated" comes from the Latin verb "emigrare", formed from the prefix "e-" (out) plus "migrare" (to move or change residence). English adopted "emigrate" in the late eighteenth century as large-scale transatlantic movement made the concept newly useful, though related forms circulated slightly earlier. It shares its root with "immigrate", "transmigrate", and "migratory", all tracing back to the same Latin stem.
Related word forms
How emigrated is actually used
"Emigrated" is neutral-to-formal in register and appears most often in historical, biographical, and demographic writing. It typically takes the construction "emigrate from [place] to [place]", with the point of origin expressed by "from".
Easily confused with emigrated
"Emigrated" describes leaving one's country of origin, while "immigrated" describes arriving in and settling in a new country — the same movement viewed from opposite ends.