/ maɪˈgreɪt; NAmE ˈmaɪgreɪt/ verb
1.
[ v ] ( of birds, animals, etc. ) to move from one part of the world to another according to the season :
Swallows migrate south in winter.
2.
[ v ] ( of a lot of people ) to move from one town, country, etc. to go and live and/or work in another
SYN emigrate :
Thousands were forced to migrate from rural to urban areas in search of work.
3.
( technical ) [ v ] to move from one place to another :
The infected cells then migrate to other areas of the body.
4.
( computing ) [ v , vn ] to change, or cause sb to change, from one computer system to another
5.
( computing ) [ vn ] to move programs or hardware from one computer system to another
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WORD ORIGIN
early 17th cent. (in the general sense move from one place to another ): from Latin migrat- moved, shifted, from the verb migrare .