What were they called (in English) before the word immigrant came into usage?
492839
pilgrims. refugees. did you just want one answer or multiple?
895383
The term "native American" is sometimes used to refer to the people who were living in the land now called North America when Europeans arrived there in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
544274
nope--your relatives came from some where-in the beginning -did they speak English?
429233
It originally meant "foreign" from the Greek language (most likely) or "hairy" from Latin...
576267
Hey chris, I am not an immigrant, my ancestors were. I guess I am a slave owner as well since it can be traced back that my ancestors were? Moron.\n\nYes Irene, there is. It is called "under the table". Or Paying in cash, because I know you will not grasp the other phrase.
402730
alnjk: I agree that it is difficult to circumvente around the meaning of the word illegal, although some have tried to distort the meaning by referring to those having an illegal status by calling them "undocumented" instead. The terms "immigrant" and "ILLEGAL immigrant are NOT interchangable. For example if I tell you to screw in a light bulb you would put the light bulb in...If I asked you to UNscrew the light bulb, you would know that I ment to take it out. PREFIXES make a BIG difference in the meaning of a word.......yes the word 'prefix' is a transitive verb.
739344
everyone in the americas is the descendant of immigrants, unless you are a first-generation immigrant. the so-called "native americans" and "first citizens" as well as the "pre-columbian indians" migrated across a land-bridge between alaska and siberia (across what is now the Bering Strait) between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.
25984
Actually it was used in the 'mother-tongue'.  Check the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and you will see that use as early as 1348.  It is now rare in England but quite regular in America.\n\nThe OED can be consulted online if you have an account or use it from a library/school.  Otherwise. use the book in a library.\n\nThomas Talboy, PhD, Director\nUbiquity International, LLC\nExperience. Explore. Embrace the World.(TM)\nhttp://www.ubiquityinternational.com
1169740
Ok well I know the term w.....k. there are many others gringo is a true work because they are forigners. but depends on the country here is a list.....\n\nHonduras = catracho or catracha if you are a girl\nNicaraugra = muco\nGuatamala = chapine\nBelize = ???\nEl Salvador = guanaco or pipiles\nPanama =  ????\nCosta Rica = tico\nMexico = nopales\n\nmojado is the term hispanics use.......
1009170
no, no , no.where were they before the russian?
189202
Its only called "Earth" in English, a minority of the world.  The origin of the English Language is a combination of the old english/germanic/norse language spoken by the everyday uneducated populace, and the Latin, Greek and French spoken by the educated classes. So, any word that the common man would use survived the attempts of the educated classes to change the language, and is still used today- Thats why we use the names of the old Norse gods for the days of the week, because they were common words used by common people, while the months are latinized-the common farmer did not use names of the months commonly, but used the names of the Season- which are English words. Common people in the middle ages did not talk about the other planets, and likely didnt even know that names of them, but they did use the word "Earth" all the time.  If you look at our language, and see which are Latin, Greek and French, they always refer to things an uneducated farmer in the middle ages would not talk about-and all the Germanic and old English words are those that refer to things that the common people spoke about all the time.
939507
Merriam webster online dictionary:\nEtymology: Middle English, from Late Latin ethnicus, from Greek ethnikos national, gentile, from ethnos nation, people; \n\nHEATHEN\n2 a : of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background <ethnic minorities> <ethnic enclaves> b : being a member of a specified ethnic group <an ethnic German> c : of, relating to, or characteristic of ethnics <ethnic neighborhoods> <ethnic foods>
501876
The term "African American" has been in common usage in the United States since the late 1980s, when greater numbers of African Americans began to adopt the term self-referentially. Malcolm X favored the term "African American" over "Negro" or "Black" and used the term at an OAAU (Organization of Afro American Unity) meeting in the early 1960s, saying, "Twenty-two million African-Americans – that's what we are – Africans who are in America."\n\nBeginning in the 1980s, many blacks began to abandon the term "Afro-American", which had become popular in the 1960s and '70s, for "African-American," because they desired an unabbreviated expression of their African heritage that could not be mistaken or derided as an allusion to the afro hairstyle. The term became increasingly popular, and by the 1980s, Jesse Jackson and others pressed for its adoption and acceptance. Users of the term argued that "African-American" was more in keeping with the nation's immigrant tradition of so-called "hyphenated Americans", who were known by terms like "Irish-American", "Chinese-American", or "Polish-American"), which link people with their, or their ancestors', geographic points of origin.\n\nOther terms used at various points in American history include Negro, colored, and black. Negro and colored were common until the late 1960s, but are now less commonly used and considered derogatory. African American, black and, to a lesser extent, Afro-American are used interchangeably today, but their precise meanings and connotations are in dispute.\n\nThe term African American is sometimes problematic because of its imprecise cultural and geographic meaning. The term as originally applied refers to only those descended from a small number of colonial indentured servants and the estimated 500,000 Africans taken to the U.S. as slaves (of approximately 11 million Africans taken to the western hemisphere in general).\n\nIn slightly broader usage, the term can include Afro-Latino immigrants whose African ancestors also survived the Middle Passage, recent African immigrants and their children, with or without American citizenship, but these groups tend to use the ethnic terms Latino or Hispanic, or even Afro-Latino to identify themselves by their countries of origin (i.e., as Dominican or Jamaican instead of African American).\n\nThe term does not include European-African, Indian, Berber or Arab immigrants from the African continent.Thus, even though people like Charlize Theron or Teresa Kerry were born in Africa and became Americans by naturalization, they are not termed as African-American.
583409
I've heard from Mexicans in Mexico that the term gringo came from the military of the US. The battle cry "Green Go".I can't attest to the accuracy of this explanation. We are all known as "Bolillos" which is a white bread roll in Mexico.Gabachos,guedo pronounced"wedo" these terms refers to the light skin.It is very common to call people nicknames referring to their skin color hair,shortness,tallness etc.These usually aren't meant as insults or racial slurs.
706128
Hi,\nI guess the correct term when referring to people from Spain would be to call them Spaniards.  But I think its also ok to use 'the Spanish' when referring to them collectively.\n:-)
228859
None. Immigrants are people who immigrate to other countries to live. However some are classed as Illegal immigrants who have gained entry to a country illegally. Most of the world is populated with the ancestors of immigrants.\n A note for Turkish gamer 13.\n What a ridiculous answer. You dont really know an awful lot do you?
1048823
Americans have been around forever...they used to be called indians......