The words emigrant and immigrant refer to the same person, viewed from two opposite geographical points. The distinction lies in the prefix: “é-” refers to “out of,” while “im-” refers to “into.” Understanding this linguistic mechanism allows for precise use of each term, whether in an administrative text, a news article, or a casual conversation.
Latin Prefixes and the Sense of Migratory Movement
The common root of both words is the Latin verb migrare, which means “to move.” It is the prefix that directs the perspective.
The prefix “é-” (a variant of “ex-“) indicates a movement outward. An emigrant leaves their country of origin to settle elsewhere. The perspective adopted is that of the country of departure.
The prefix “im-” (a variant of “in-“) indicates a movement inward. An immigrant enters a new country to reside there. The perspective adopted is that of the host country.
Let’s take a concrete example. A person born in Senegal who settles in France is an emigrant from Senegal’s perspective and an immigrant from France’s perspective. Both terms describe the same migratory reality, but from opposite shores. By delving deeper into the difference between emigrant and immigrant, we see that this logic of perspective is also found in the verbs (émigrer/immigrer) and the action nouns (émigration/immigration).
The same distinctions apply to the derived forms:
- Emigrant/immigrant: the person in the process of moving, depending on whether we view them leaving or arriving
- Emigration/immigration: the collective phenomenon, seen from the country left or the country joined
- Emigrer/immigrer: the act of leaving or settling, always according to the point of observation
Statistical Definition of Immigrant in France: A More Restrictive Sense
In everyday language, “immigrant” refers to any person who comes to live in another country. French statistics use a narrower definition.
Insee defines an immigrant as a person born foreign abroad and residing in France. This status is permanent: even after acquiring French nationality, the person is still counted as an immigrant in public data.
This definition excludes two profiles that seem to correspond to the common meaning of the word:
- People born abroad but of French nationality at birth (children of diplomats, French expatriates born outside the territory)
- People born in France of foreign nationality, sometimes referred to as “children of immigrants” but who are not themselves immigrants in the statistical sense
This distinction between linguistic meaning and statistical meaning regularly creates misunderstandings in public debate. A news article that talks about “immigrants” does not always target the same population as an Insee report.
Emigrant: A Term Rarely Used in French Statistics
While the word “immigrant” is ubiquitous in official French reports, its counterpart “emigrant” rarely appears. Institutional publications prefer terms like “departures,” “returns,” or “leavings.”
This asymmetry reflects a bias of perspective. A country produces statistics on those who arrive, not on those who leave. Counting entries into the territory is mechanically simpler than tracking exits, as people leaving a country have no systematic obligation to report it.
The concrete result: France has detailed data on its immigrant population (country of birth, country of origin, year of arrival), but information on French citizens who have moved abroad remains patchy. Registration with the consular registry, for example, is voluntary.
Migrant, Refugee, Expatriate: Close but Distinct Terms
The confusion between emigrant and immigrant often extends to other words in the migration lexical field. Each carries a precise meaning.
The term migrant is the most neutral. It refers to any person moving from one country to another, without specifying direction, duration, or reason. It is a generic term that says nothing about legal status.
The word refugee has a legal connotation. It refers to a person who has obtained international protection because they are fleeing persecution or conflict. This status is granted by a state or an international organization, according to criteria defined by law.
The term expatriate, on the other hand, most often refers to a person living abroad for professional reasons, without any connotation of constraint. In practice, an expatriate is both an emigrant (from the perspective of their country of origin) and an immigrant (from the perspective of the host country), but the word carries a different social weight.
Foreigner and Immigrant Are Not Synonyms
In French law, a foreigner is a person who does not possess French nationality. An immigrant, according to Insee, is born foreign abroad. A naturalized immigrant is no longer a foreigner, but remains an immigrant in statistics. Conversely, a person born in France to foreign parents is a foreigner but not an immigrant.
Using the Right Word According to Context
The practical rule can be summed up in one sentence: the choice between emigrant and immigrant depends on the country from which one observes the movement.
If you are describing a person’s departure, you refer to an emigrant. If you are describing their arrival and settlement, you refer to an immigrant. In a text that mentions both countries, both terms can coexist for the same person.
In spelling, the only difficulty lies in the prefix. The double “m” in immigrant (im + migré) is a common mistake to watch out for, just like forgetting the accent on the initial “é” in emigrant. The verbal forms follow the same logic: one emigrates from, one immigrates to or into.
The linguistic distinction has remained stable for centuries. What evolves is the administrative and political weight of each term. Keeping the prefix mechanism in mind is enough to avoid confusion.