alien

[ ey-lee-uhn, eyl-yuhn ]

noun

1. a creature from outer space; extraterrestrial.
2. Often Disparaging and Offensive. a resident of one country who was born in or owes allegiance to another country and has not acquired citizenship by naturalization in the country of residence ( citizen ). resident alien, illegal alien.
3. a foreigner.
4. a person who has been estranged or excluded.
5. a plant or animal species not originating where it is found but introduced, sometimes accidentally, from its native environment elsewhere:

   Imported plants, seeds, or bulbs may harbor unwanted aliens such as foreign insects or the seeds of other plants.

adjective

1. unlike one's own; strange; not belonging to one:

   In English class, our teacher treated all slang as alien speech.

   Synonyms: nonnative, incompatible, inimical, averse, antagonistic, foreign, unknown, unfamiliar, exotic

2. residing under a government or in a country other than that of one's birth without having or obtaining the status of citizenship there.
3. belonging or relating to noncitizens:

   Under certain conditions, seizure of alien property is authorized.

4. opposed; adverse; hostile (usually followed by to or from ):

   Their manifesto is full of ideas alien to modern thinking.

5. extraterrestrial ( def 1 ).
6. (of a plant or animal species) not native; introduced from a different environment:

   The bullfrog is native to some Canadian provinces, but is an alien species in British Columbia.

alien

/ ˈeɪljən; ˈeɪlɪən; ˈeɪljənɪdʒ; ˈeɪlɪə- /

noun

1. a person owing allegiance to a country other than that in which he lives; foreigner
2. any being or thing foreign to the environment in which it now exists
3. (in science fiction) a being from another world, sometimes specifically an extraterrestrial

adjective

1. unnaturalized; foreign
2. having foreign allegiance

   alien territory

3. unfamiliar; strange

   an alien quality in a work of art

4. postpositiveand foll byto repugnant or opposed (to)

   war is alien to his philosophy

5. (in science fiction) of or from another world

verb

1. rare.
   tr to transfer (property, etc) to another

alien

/ ā′lē-ən /

1. Introduced to a region deliberately or accidentally by humans. Starlings, German cockroaches, and dandelions are species that are alien to North America but have become widely naturalized in the continent.
2. Compare endemic

Sensitive Note

See illegal alien.

Derived Forms

• alienage, noun

Other Words From

• non·al·ien noun adjective
• pro·al·ien adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of alien¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin aliēnus “belonging to or affecting someone else; someone else's; not one's own; foreign,” equivalent to ali(us) “other” + -ēnus adjective suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of alien¹

C14: from Latin aliēnus foreign, from alius other

Example Sentences

She voiced a character for a 2015 Lego video game and was a main voice in “Lloyd in Space,” a Disney cartoon centered on a child alien that ran for four seasons from 2001-2004.

From New York Times

These numbers don’t reveal much evidence of raging majoritarian white nationalism or the notion that African Americans would be alienated by flag-waving.

From Salon

Interestingly, alien species -- meaning those not native to the study region -- represented only ten percent of the natural regeneration in the restored areas.

From Science Daily

He embodies that seething, alienated rage of people who feel like they’ve been left to rot in the dark corners of the country, unseen, unheard and hopeless for far too long.

From Salon

The platform is also becoming home to larger communities who felt like they were being alienated by Musk's lack of content moderation on X.

From Salon

Related Words

• exotic
• incongruous
• unusual

About This Word

What does alien mean?

Historically, the word alien has been used in a way that is now often considered disparaging and offensive: to refer to a person who was born in one country and now lives in another country without having become a citizen.

Alien and its more general synonym foreigner are now often considered disparaging and offensive due to being used in a way that’s intended to otherize a person—mark them as different and unwelcome. Such use is typically attributed to xenophobia, racism, and anti-immigrant stances.

This sense of alien is found in legal terms like ​​resident alien and illegal alien. General and legal use of these terms has decreased in recent years, but they are still in use in many cases.

Relatedly, many object to the word illegal in illegal alien and illegal immigrant due to its implication that a person’s very existence can be illegal.

There are other common uses of the word alien that are not considered offensive, but that are also based on the idea of something being unfamiliar or from an entirely different place.

Alien can be used as an adjective to describe something as entirely unfamiliar, as in It was the first time he had returned in many years, and the place now seemed alien to him. The word foreign can be used in the same way.

The word alien is also commonly used as a noun to refer to a being from another planet, sometimes called an extraterrestrial or a space alien. The classic image of an alien from science fiction and pop culture (the one that comes out of a flying saucer) is a little green humanoid with a big head and large eyes. But aliens have been depicted in many different ways.

Where does alien come from?

The first records of the word alien come from around 1300. It ultimately comes from the Latin word aliēnus, meaning “foreign,” which itself comes from the word alius, meaning  “other.”

Related words include the verb alienate, meaning “to cause to be withdrawn or isolated,” as well as the adjective form alienated and the noun alienation.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for alien?

• extraterrestrial (in the sense of a space alien)

What are some words that share a root or word element with alien? 

• alienate
• alienated
• alienation

What are some words that often get used in discussing alien?

• immigrant
• resident
• citizen
• citizenship
• nationality
• space
• invasion
• abduction
• foreign
• unfamiliar

How is alien used in real life?

When used in the context of citizenship and immigration, the word alien is often considered disparaging and offensive. However, it’s also commonly used as an adjective meaning “unfamiliar” and to refer to a being from another planet, especially in the context of science fiction.

I was thinking just now that if peaceful aliens arrived on Earth and made their presence known, humans would not be very generous hosts.

— Elspeth Eastman (@ElspethEastman) March 2, 2014

We're gonna see and meet aliens this year.

— Mutahar (@OrdinaryGamers) June 4, 2020

 

 

 

 

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True or False? 

The word alien derives from a Latin word meaning “other.”