im ‧ mi ‧ grant AC /ˈɪməɡrənt, ˈɪmɪɡrənt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ immigration ≠ ↑ emigration , ↑ immigrant ≠ ↑ emigrant ; verb : ↑ immigrate ≠ ↑ emigrate ]
someone who enters another country to live there permanently ⇨ emigrant :
an illegal immigrant
a new wave of immigrants from the Middle East
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ an illegal immigrant
Large numbers of illegal immigrants have found their way into the country.
▪ a legal immigrant
Two thirds of legal immigrants to the country came from Europe and Canada.
▪ a recent immigrant
The majority of workers at the factory are recent immigrants.
▪ European/African etc immigrants
There has been a recent increase in the number of African immigrants.
▪ a first-generation immigrant (=someone who is an immigrant, or whose parents were immigrants)
Her parents were first-generation immigrants from Poland.
▪ a second-generation immigrant (=someone whose parents or grandparents were immigrants)
These boys are second-generation immigrants who grew up speaking English.
■ phrases
▪ a wave/influx of immigrants (=a large number of them)
A new wave of immigrants arrived in the 1950s.
▪ a flood of immigrants (=a very large number of immigrants that arrive at the same time)
He suggested the country would experience a flood of immigrants.
■ immigrant + NOUN
▪ an immigrant family
A quarter of the school’s students are from immigrant families.
▪ immigrant workers
Many immigrant workers had to live in deprived areas.
▪ an immigrant community
There are shops catering for the various immigrant communities.
▪ the immigrant population
The immigrant population increased rapidly during the 1970s.