alien

Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign.

Adjective

  1. Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign.
    • alien subjects, enemies, property, or shores

    Synonyms: allotrious strange acquired additional adventitious alien ascititious extraneous foreign fremd intrusive outlandish supplemental tramontane

  2. Very unfamiliar, strange, or removed.
    • principles alien to our religion
    • An alien sound of melancholy. - 1850, William Wordsworth, The Prelude:

    Synonyms: monstrous weird aberrant abnormal alien anomalous as queer as Dick's hatband bizarre booky curious deviant discrepant eerie eldritch errant exceptional extraordinary fey forby freak freakish freaky fremd funny

  3. Pertaining to extraterrestrial life; typical of an extraterrestrial creature.
    • It had a peculiar alien tallness, a peculiar alien flattened head, peculiar slitty little alien eyes[.] - 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 8:

    Synonyms: extraterrestrial nonterrestrial xenomorphic

Origin

From Middle English alien, a borrowing from Old French alien, aliene, from Latin aliēnus (“belonging to someone else”, later “exotic, foreign”), from Latin alius (“other”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos. Related to English else.

Forms

more alien most alien alyaunte

Noun

  1. A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration.
    • An animated film intended to inform travellers about the dangers that alien species present to Arctic ecosystems is being released today. The message is that it is important to ensure that nobody accidentally brings...
  2. A citizen or national of another sovereign state.
    • An alien born may purchase lands, or other estates: but not for his own use; for the king is thereupon entitled to them. - 1773, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the laws of England: in four books, 5th edition,...
    • The counsel have shown conclusively that they are not a state of the union, and have insisted that individually they are aliens, not owing allegiance to the United States. - 1831, John Marshall, Cherokee Nation v....
    • I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien I'm an Englishman in New York - 1987, “Englishman in New York”, in …Nothing Like the Sun, performed by Sting:
  3. A mischievous or suspicious foreigner.
  4. Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
    • You might not have much use for me. You spend too much time with the damn aliens, pretending your time in the gangs back on Earth never happened. I know you weren't happy when I found you at the Citadel a couple years...
  5. One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.
    • […]aliens from the common wealth of Iſrael[…] - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 2:12, column 2:
    • The One Who, in this marvellous utterance, brings those who were by nature aliens and enemies of God into intimate and holy relations with God the Father, is the very One Who had to come to offer that Sacrifice without...

Forms

aliens alyaunte

Synonyms

fremd guest stranger outlander

Derived

alien abduction alienage alien hand syndrome alienish alienlike alien nucleic acid alien prior alien priory alien reproduction vehicle aliensdidit alien space bats alien species ancient alien casual alien ego alien grey alien gray alien illegal alien Nordic alien resident alien space alien undocumented alien

Verb

  1. To estrange; to alienate.
  2. To transfer the ownership of something.

Forms

aliens aliening aliened aliene alyaunte