Emigrant came up as a spelling word for my son today. This got us wondering about the difference between this spelling and the one I normally think of immigrant. So, we looked them both up. Here's what we found:
Emigrant: A person who leaves their own country in order to settle permanently in another.
Immigrant: A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
That seemed rather unclear, so I did a search and found this explanation:
An immigrant is someone who comes into a new country or region to live. An emigrant is someone who leaves.
I think they're implying that which word you use depends on whether you are in the country they've left or in the one that they have gone to. And, since the words sound essentially the same, you've only got to remember the distinction when writing. Strange language.
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