What does emigrating mean?
Emigrating is the present participle of "emigrate," meaning to leave the country where one lives in order to settle permanently in another. It describes an act of departure viewed from the point of origin: a person emigrating from India might be described as immigrating to Canada, depending on which nation's perspective frames the sentence. The word carries connotations of deliberation and permanence — it implies uprooting one's life, often involving paperwork, savings, and farewells, rather than a temporary move or holiday. In everyday use it typically appears with the prepositions "to" and "from," as in "emigrating to New Zealand." Historically resonant, the word evokes waves of migration driven by famine, war, persecution, or economic hope, and remains central to discussions of diaspora and national identity. Its Latin root, migrare, meaning "to move," also underlies related terms such as migrate and transmigrate.
verb (present participle and gerund of "emigrate")Leaving one's country or region of residence to settle permanently in another; the ongoing act of moving out of a native country to live elsewhere.
- To leave one's country of residence in order to settle permanently in another country.
"After years of saving, she was finally emigrating to Canada with her family."
"Thousands of families were emigrating from Ireland during the famine years."
"He spent months sorting visas and paperwork before emigrating to Australia."
The same Latin verb gave us both "emigrate" and "immigrate" — whether you're an emigrant or an immigrant depends entirely on which side of the border you're standing on.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of emigrating
Emigrating comes from the Latin verb emigrare, formed from e- ("out of") plus migrare ("to move"), literally "to move out." The English verb "emigrate" was borrowed in the late 18th century, a period when large-scale population movement made such terminology newly necessary. It shares its Latin root with "immigrate," "migrate," and "transmigrate," all describing different directions or modes of movement.
Related word forms
How emigrating is actually used
Register is neutral; "emigrating" appears in formal, journalistic, and everyday contexts alike. The preposition matters: one emigrates FROM a country and TO another. Because it denotes permanent settlement rather than temporary travel, it is stronger than "moving abroad" for a short stay.
Easily confused with emigrating
"Emigrating" describes leaving your own country, while "immigrating" describes arriving in and settling in a new country from the perspective of the destination.
"Migrating" is a broader term for any movement between places (including seasonal or repeated movement by people or animals), whereas "emigrating" specifically means leaving one's country permanently.