Migrant/Immigrant

Migrant/Immigrant
Two terms meaning the same thing?

Towards/Toward
Why is "toward" tolerated? It sounds awkward. It doesn't sound quite right.

Migrant and Immigrant both got the same meaning likewise Towards and Toward

"Immigrants" go from one country to another.

"Migrant" means from one region to another. So there could be migrant workers in one country that travel throughout the country in search of work. If these workers were from another country, they'd be immigrant migrant workers.

mjd's answer is pretty much correct. A migrant is an animal (including humans) which/who has come from another region. The word "immigrant" is more specific. The word "immigrant" applies only to a specific type of migrant. Immigrants people from other countries who have come to stay.

The following comes from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary and Cambridge Dictionary of American English* (with the latter marked with an asterix).

migrate [Show phonetics]
verb [I]
1 When an animal migrates, it travels to a different place, usually when the season changes:
These animals migrate annually in search of food.
In September, these birds migrate 2000 miles south to a warmer climate.

2 If people migrate, they travel in large numbers to a new place to live temporarily:
Mexican farm workers migrate into the US each year to find work at harvest time.

3 to move from one place to another:
Trade is migrating from local shops to the larger out-of-town stores.

migrant [Show phonetics]
noun [C]
These birds are winter migrants from Scandinavia.
The cities are full of migrants looking for work.
migrant workers
a migrant population

migration [Show phonetics]
noun [C or U]
There was a mass migration of poverty-struck farmers into the cities.
Compare immigration; emigration.

migratory [Show phonetics]
adjective
migratory birds

http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=50470&dict=CALD

immigrant [Show phonetics]
noun [C] (AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH ALSO migrant)
a person who has come to a different country in order to live there permanently:
a large immigrant population
Illegal immigrants are sent back across the border if they are caught.

immigration [Show phonetics]
noun [U]
1 when someone comes to live in a different country:
There are strict limits on immigration (into the country).

2 the process of examining your passport and other documents to make certain that you can be allowed to enter the country, or the place where this is done:
After you've been through immigration (control), you can go and get your luggage.
immigration policy
immigration officers

immigrate [Show phonetics]
verb [I]
He immigrated with his parents in 1895, and grew up in Long Island.

http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=39184&dict=CALD

* emigrate
[Show phonetics]
verb [I]
to leave a country permanently and go to live in another one Compare immigrate at immigrant
Millions of Germans emigrated from Europe in the nineteenth century.

* emigration
[Show phonetics]
noun [C/U]

* emigrant
[Show phonetics]
noun [C]
a person who leaves a country permanently to live in another one Compare immigrant.

http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=emigrate*1+0&dict=a

The "toward"/"towards" thing seems to be a Commonwealth/North-American thing. Again from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

towards (MOVEMENT) MAINLY UK [Show phonetics]
preposition (MAINLY US toward)
in the direction of, or closer to someone or something:
She stood up and walked towards him.
He leaned towards his wife and whispered, "Can we go home soon?"
She kept glancing towards the telephone.
The country seems to be drifting towards war.
There is a trend towards healthier eating among all sectors of the population.

http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=84094&dict=CALD

Isn't emigré better than emigrant?

Hmm, it turns out that both exist but that "emigre" has political connotations.

French

Migrant Migré

Emigré Emigrant

Immigrant Immigré

The 2 versions work

What do you hear by political connation?
Does "émigré" have a political connatation in english?

connotation

That's what the Cambridge dictionary said...

Really? I didn't know

But that's English.

We have immigrant/migrant/emigra

nt plus emigre.

I know you were talking about the english version, but we have the same in french

Emigré, emigrant
immigré, immigrant
migré, migrant

What do they mean by political conotation in the Cambridge dictionnary?

Yes but we can't say migré/immigré.

I think for example they mean like Victor Hugo. He "had to" leave France.