Migrate

How to spell migrate

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce migrate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does migrate mean?

1. verbTo move from one region, country, or habitat to another, often seasonally or to settle.

Migrate in a sentence

• Many workers migrate to the city in search of better pay.

• These birds migrate south every autumn to escape the cold.

Where does migrate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Migrate comes from the Latin verb migrare, which meant 'to move from one place to another' or 'to change one's dwelling'. The form used in English is built on the past participle stem migrat-, the same shape that gives us migration and migrant. English adopted it in the early 1600s, at first describing people who shifted home from one region or country to another, and soon afterwards the seasonal travels of birds and animals. The very same root sits inside the everyday relatives 'emigrate' (to migrate out of a country, with the prefix e-, meaning 'out of') and 'immigrate' (to migrate into one, with im-, meaning 'into'), which is a useful reminder that the core spelling is always migrate. Because the unstressed second syllable softens to a quiet schwa in speech, writers sometimes hesitate over the -ate ending, but the Latin origin keeps it firmly as -ate.

How the word is built

• migr- (from migrare: to move from one place to another)
• -ate (verb suffix)