Learn English – What’s the difference in meaning between “emigrate” and “immigrate”

meaningword-choice

What's the difference between emigrate and immigrate? They seem to have the same definitions in the dictionary but they are antonyms…

 

Best Answer

The difference is fairly subtle

  • To Emigrate is to leave one country to settle in another. (The focus is on the original country)
  • To Immigrate is to come to a new country to live. (The focus is on the new country)

So if I were born in Ireland, and then migrated to the US, all of the following would be true and grammatical:

I emigrated from Ireland.

I immigrated to the US.

(Now the tricky bits)

I emigrated from Ireland to the US. (This focuses on the leaving bit)

I immigrated to the US from Ireland. (This focuses on the arriving bit)

And finally, relatives in Ireland might say:

Dusty emigrated to the US last year. (from their perspective, I left)

While new friends in the US:

Dusty immigrated to the US last year. (from their perspective, I arrived)

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