emigration

Definition of Emigration

(noun) The movement (migration) of people out of an area.

Example of Emigration

• Chris is an emigrant from the United States that now lives in Canada.

Emigration Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: em·i·gra·tion

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˌɛməˈgreɪʃən/
• British English – /ɛmɪˈɡreɪʃən/

Usage Notes

• Plural: emigrations
• You emigrate when you leave your home country and immigrate to your new country.
  • You can remember this distinction by thinking “Exit” for emigration and “Into” for immigration.
• Emigration is a type of migration which is typically viewed as transitory (i.e., moving from place to place with the seasons); emigration along with immigration are generally permanent.
• Also called:
  • expatriation
  • out-migration
• The (adjective) emigratory or (adjective) emigrational patterns of (noun) emigrants (verb) emigrating are studied by demographers.

Additional Information

• Word origin of “emigration” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Cohen, Robin. 1996. The Sociology of Migration. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar.
• Jacoby, Tamar, ed. 2004. Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What it Means to be American. New York: Basic Books.
• Morawska, Ewa T. 2009. A Sociology of Immigration: (Re)making Multifaceted America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Portes, Alejandro, ed. 1995. The Economic Sociology of Immigration: Essays on Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Vigdor, Jacob L. 2009. From Immigrants to Americans: The Rise and Fall of Fitting In. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Yans-McLaughlin, Virginia. 1990. Immigration Reconsidered: History, Sociology, and Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.

Related Terms

• birth rate
• culture
• demography
• mortality rate
• population
• population composition
• society
• State
• urbanization
• world-systems theory
• zero population growth

---

Works Consulted

Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Emigration

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “emigration.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 29, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/emigration/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

emigration. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/emigration/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “emigration.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 29, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/emigration/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“emigration.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Sep. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/emigration/>.