I have read the definition of the words, “emigrate” and “immigrate” in the MW Collegiate Dictionary. However, I am unclear on the difference of the two words. It seems to be subtle and elusive, for me.
Anyone care to give me a lesson in the style of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Emigration vs. Immigration” and “Emigration vs Immigration for Dummies,” please?
Emigrate = leave
Immigrate = arrive
Obviously one place’s emigrants = another places immigrants
the same person who emigrates from country A, immigrates to country B. Ex-patriots could be called emigrants. (I think there is only one m in emigrant)
Take a look at the prefix
in- /im- means, well, “in”
e- means “out”
embark
espouse
ejaculate
imbibe
ingest
imbue
As noted, E(x)-migrants exit
while In-migrants come in. (The “in” changes to “im” because the “nm” combination does not roll easily off the lips of speakers of English.)
The words were coined in English with little in the way of Latin roots, but they were coined in the 17th (immigrate) and 18th (emigrate) centuries when English intellectuals were enamored of Latin, so standard Latin prefixes were tacked on to migrate.
The ex- prefix often drops the x, so it was never placed into emigrate.
Ok, I get it now, sort of.
Example: Hans and Helga emigrated from Sweden, then immigrated to the United States.
But here’s the confusing part:
According to the MW Collegiate Dictionary, emigration simply denotes leaving one’s own country to go live in another (permanance is not indicated).
Immigration indicates taking up permanent residence in a country that is not of one’s origin.
Also:
[list]
[li]Does a temporary traveller fall into the category of emigrant, but NOT immigrant? Example: A wealthy businessman who alternately lives in Italy 6 months out of the year, but resides the other 6 months in the US.[/li][li]Does defection have any relation to the two terms ?[/li]Are refugees and illegal aliens, considered emigrants / immigrants?
So what? There’s no law that says the words must have precisely parallel meanings. The difference between the two words, then, is “emigrate” means to leave, regardless of time frame; and “immigrate” means to arrive permanently.
I’d have tacked some level of permanence onto both words.
The specific destination would not need to be permanent, but the act of leaving would.
Henry James emigrated to Europe around 1870, spending some time in Britain (I think) then Italy, then France, then Britain.
When he arrived in Britain in 1876, he became an immigrant because he settled there, living out the remainder of his life in that country, but prior to 1876, I would not considered him to have been an immigrant in Italy or France. (Others may see it differently–it is not as though we havbe a Bureau of Standards for the usage of Immigrant and Emigrant.)
Refugees are clearly emigrants (fleeing their country). Whether they are immigrants depends on whether they settle in a single country or move from one nation to another, often hoping to return to their homeland. Andre Codrescu (sp?) was an emigrant from Romania who immigrated to the U.S. for many years. Once the old regime fell, I heard that he had returned to Romania, so he would no longer be an emigrant or an immgrant (as I would not consider a person returning home to be an immigrant–YMMV).
Defectors (rather reduced since the thawing of the Cold War) are simply a special catgory of refugee.
Illegal aliens would have to be evaluated on a case by case basis. There are many people who enter the U.S. from Central America as migrant workers, following certain harvests, but also returning to their homelands during the off-seasons. Others hope to make ther permanent residence the U.S. If they shuttle between the countries, they are simply migrants (movers).
Things are quite clear now. Thanks everyone.
{tomndebb: very good illustrations}
If anyone else has another .02¢ to add, please feel free.
For a practical response, I once overheard one of my reporters explaining to another one how to be certain the latter used the two words under discussion correctly.
He said if you’ve got a “to” after the word, the word should be “immigrate”. If you have a “from” after the word, it should be “emigrate.”
Not deep, but effective.