很多人搞不清楚 immigrate 和 emigrate 的区别，到底哪个是真正的“移民”？

1. immigrate：移居入境

定义：to enter and settle in a country or region to which one is not native（进入并定居在外国）

Britain immigrated many colonists to the New World.

英国把大量殖民者移居到了新大陆。

2. emigrate：移居出境

定义：to leave one country or region to settle in another.（移居国外、移民）

His family emigrated to the U.S. last winter.

他们一家去年冬天移民到美国了。

　还有一个词也要注意：

3.migrate：移动、移往、移植,、随季节而移居、(鸟类的)迁徙

定义：move from one place to another（从一地转移到另一地）

Swallows migrate south in winter.

燕子在冬天迁徙到南方。

Thousands were forced to migrate from rural to urban areas in search of work. 成千上万的人为了寻找工作被迫从农村涌进城市。

The infected cells then migrate to other areas of the body.

受感染的细胞接着转移到身体的其他部位。

总结：

immigrate和emigrate意思相反，一个是移进，一个是移出，而migrate是一个更广泛抽象的词。

最后再来两个句子，理解一下emigrate（移出）和immigrate（移进）。

  • 1.After the Nazis came to power in Germany, many scientists emigrated (that is, left Germany).

纳粹夺取了德国的政权之后，许多科学家都迁走了（也就是说，离开了德国）。

  • 2.The promise of prosperity in the United States encouraged many people to immigrate (that is, move to the United States).

兴旺发达的前景吸引了众多的移民到美国（也就是指，迁入了美国）