Migration

noun

/maɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/

The movement of people from one place to another, especially a change of residence or habitat from one locality to another, either within a country or across international borders.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The large-scale migration of distressed agrarian labour to overcrowded metropolitan centres reflects not merely individual aspiration but the structural failure of rural livelihoods, demanding a policy response that strengthens employment at the source rather than penalising mobility at the destination.

Synonyms

movementrelocationresettlementdisplacementexodustransmigration

Antonyms

settlementstagnationimmobility

🌱 Word Family

migrate (v), migrant (n/adj), migration (n), migratory (adj), immigration (n), emigration (n)

🔡 Root

Latin migratio = removal, change of abode; migrare = to move; PIE mei- = to change, go, move

📜 Etymology

From Latin migrationem (nominative migratio, "a removal, change of abode"), from migrare ("to move from one place to another"), ultimately from PIE root mei- ("to change, go, move"); first recorded in English in the early 1500s.

🧠 Memory Hook

Migration shares its root with "migrate" and "mutate" (Latin mutare, "to change") — to migrate is to change your place; picture birds changing skies each season.

📝 Seen in UPSC Question Papers

Prelims 2024 — Constitutional Framework
Prelims 2023 — International Organisations
Mains 2024 · GS1 · 15 marks — Indian Society
Mains 2016 · GS4 · 12 marks — Corporate Ethics / Development Ethics / CSR
Mains 2015 · GS1 · 12.5 marks — Indian Society
Mains 2014 · GS3 · 12.5 marks — Security

Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Migration” — proof this word earns its place on your list.

🌍 Geography 📖 Seen in: Human Geography of India

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