migrate

To relocate periodically from one region to another, usually according to the seasons.

Verb

  1. To relocate periodically from one region to another, usually according to the seasons.
    • Twice a year the geese migrate — from Florida to Canada and back again.
    • Twice a year the Minnesotans migrate from their state to the Gulf of Mexico.
  2. To change one's geographic pattern of habitation.
    • Many groups had migrated to western Europe from the plains of eastern Europe.
  3. To change habitations across a border; to move from one country or political region to another.
    • To escape persecution, they migrated to a neutral country.
    • Little is more extraordinary than the decision to migrate, little more extraordinary than the accumulation of emotions and thoughts which finally leads a family to say farewell to a community where it has lived for...
  4. To move slowly towards, usually in groups.
    • Once the hosts started bickering in the kitchens, the guests began to migrate towards the living room.
  5. To move gradually, especially from an intended to an unintended position.
    • Oil was able to migrate from the accessory gearbox into the magneto housing through the improperly installed gland seals.
    • It is very common for the position of the placenta to change as the uterus stretches and grows. An anterior placenta can migrate toward the top, sides, or back of the uterus as the weeks go on. - 2022 August 13, Donna...
  6. To move computer code or files from one computer or network to another.
    • They had finished migrating all of the affected code to the production server by 2:00am, three hours later than expected.
  7. To induce customers to shift purchases from one set of a company's related products to another.
    • We were hoping to migrate the customers of the "C" series to the "E" series and the "E" customers to the "S" series.

Origin

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin migrātus, perfect passive participle of migrō (“to migrate, change, transport”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Forms

migrates migrating migrated

Related

migrant

Derived

abmigrate comigrate demigrate electromigrated emigrate immigrate migratable migration migrative migrator migratory mismigrate mismigrated nonmigrated nonmigrating outmigrate overmigrate remigrate transmigrate unmigrate unmigrated