An emigrant is someone who leaves their home country to settle in another, while an immigrant is someone who moves into a new country to live there permanently. The terms are two sides of the same coin: the process of emigration is leaving a country (from the perspective of the country of origin), and immigration is arriving in a country (from the perspective of the destination country). The prefixes help remember the difference: emigrant comes from "exit," and immigrant comes from "in".
| Emigrant | Immigrant | |
|---|---|---|
| Action | Leaving a country | Entering a country |
| Perspective | From the point of departure (origin country) | From the point of arrival (new country) |
| Prefix meaning | e- (out, away) |
im- (in) |
| Example | A person is an emigrant from Germany when they move to the United States. | That same person is an immigrant to the United States. |