From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishimmigrantim‧mi‧grant /ˈɪməɡrənt/ ●●○ W3 AWL noun [countable] FOREIGNsomeone who enters another country to live there permanently → emigrant an illegal immigrant a new wave of immigrants from the Middle EastCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesan illegal immigrantLarge numbers of illegal immigrants have found their way into the country.a legal immigrantTwo thirds of legal immigrants to the country came from Europe and Canada.a recent immigrantThe majority of workers at the factory are recent immigrants.European/African etc immigrantsThere has been a recent increase in the number of African immigrants.a first-generation immigrant (=someone who is an immigrant, or whose parents were immigrants)Her parents were first-generation immigrants from Poland.a second-generation immigrant (=someone whose parents or grandparents were immigrants)These boys are second-generation immigrants who grew up speaking English.phrasesa wave/influx of immigrants (=a large number of them)A new wave of immigrants arrived in the 1950s.a flood of immigrants (=a very large number of immigrants that arrive at the same time)He suggested the country would experience a flood of immigrants.immigrant + NOUNan immigrant familyA quarter of the school’s students are from immigrant families.immigrant workersMany immigrant workers had to live in deprived areas.an immigrant communityThere are shops catering for the various immigrant communities.the immigrant populationThe immigrant population increased rapidly during the 1970s.
Examples from the Corpus
immigrant• Jae Min's parents are immigrants from South Korea.• There is also some evidence that black immigrants are more entrepreneurial than native-born blacks.• From people worried about the country being marginally swamped by immigrants, no doubt.• Santa Clara was a mesh of Italian, Mexican and German immigrants in the 1800s.• With illegal immigrants, the decision will be easy.• The winery was started by an Italian immigrant to California.• The bill would have cut off government aid even to legal immigrants.• Between 1820 and 1920 some 35 million immigrants reached the United States.• The new immigrants come mainly from Asia and Latin America.• This is a nation of immigrants.• Mr Stoiber has been in the forefront of those calling for tighter restrictions on asylum-seekers and ordinary immigrants.• Once on the job, strong immigrant networks mean that other immigrants tend to be hired when new openings emerge.• It was these immigrants who did so much for the pioneer areas and young industries.From Longman Business Dictionaryimmigrantim‧mi‧grant /ˈɪməgrənt/ noun [countable] someone who comes from abroad to live permanently in another countryThe country has a large immigrant population. → compare emigrant 