emigration
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of leaving your home country to live in a new country forever.
the act of departing from one's country of residence with the intention of settling permanently elsewhere.
Simple“Economic problems in the 19th century led to mass emigration from Ireland to America.”
In context“The government is concerned that the recent wave of emigration will lead to a significant shortage of skilled healthcare professionals.”
UsageUsually followed by the preposition 'from' to indicate the point of origin.
PitfallThe emigration to the UK was difficult. The immigration to the UK was difficult.Use 'emigration' when focusing on leaving a place (emigration from) and 'immigration' when focusing on arriving (immigration to).
Antonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
a large group of people who are all leaving their country at the same time.
a body of emigrants considered collectively. Often used in historical or sociological contexts.
Simple“The local museum tracks the history of the Polish emigration in this city.”
In context“Sociologists studied the mid-century emigration to determine how these communities maintained their cultural identity in a foreign environment.”
Synonyms
“The study found that emigration was not only higher in 2023 and 2024 than in previous years, but that those who had left were from higher tax brackets.”
“International lawyers have warned that mass, forced or engineered emigration of this kind could amount to ethnic cleansing.”
From Late Latin stem of emigratio, from e (“out”) + migrare (“to move, remove, depart”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.