Could any of you give the difference between the words immigrate and emigrate? Also throw light on their usage along with examples.
Thanks in Advance,
Kiran
Both mean *to come* to another country to settle; however, emigrate also means *to leave* one country to settle into another.
That is what my Websters says, anyway. I certainly do not see how a person can *come* to a country to settle in, without *leaving* his previous country, so it would seem that immigrate also means *to leave*
Wow, this is a very good question! According to my Websters, it is not the same word with different spellings, because the two words are listed under their respective letters, instead of under one letter, with a variant spelling.
I am sure that some of the more knowledgeable posters here can shed some better light on this, than can I!
To be strictly correct immigrate means to move into and emigrate means to move out of. The relevant parts of the words are the im-, from Latin in meaning into and e- from Latin e-, ex- meaning out of. They sound a lot alike and get confused in colloquial speech and they do come in pairs as RubyRed pointed out. To immigrate to one place you must have emigrated from someplace else. My father's family emigrated from Scotland in the early 20th century and immigrated to America. It's like the difference between bring and take. You take your lunch from your home and bring it to work.
Thank you all, but I might bother you again ... hahaha.
Kiran
I might bother you again
Please do.
Please do.
Yes - welcome, Kiran! It often starts with a simple question...the addiction to AWADtalk, I mean...!
Seeking through this thread reminded me of Sir Percy Blakeney and his efforts for the émigrés.
émigré - in French history, a refugee, usually royalist, who fled the French Revolution and took up residence abroad. The émigrés were mainly drawn from the privileged classes. After 1802, Napoleon permitted the émigrés to return to France and many rose to power in the empire. With the restoration of the monarchy (1814) the rest of them returned and became a powerful reactionary group. When the Comte d’Artois ascended the throne (1824) a law was passed indemnifying the nobility for their confiscated estates. This pro-émigré legislation helped to bring about the revolution of 1830 against Charles X. The term émigré has subsequently been applied to refugees from any revolution.
Thanks, dxb--your post led me to quite an education. (No details, on the grounds that they would reveal my abysmal ignorance.)
The French called the White Russians who flocked to Paris in 1917-1923 "emigres" as well. So the general usage is pretty much set.
- Pfranz