denizen

[ den-uh-zuhn ]

noun

1. an inhabitant; resident.
2. a person who regularly frequents a place; habitué:

   the denizens of a local bar.

3. anything adapted to a new place, condition, etc., such as an animal or plant not indigenous to a place but successfully naturalized.
4. British Law. an alien admitted to residence and to certain rights of citizenship in a country: this legal designation has been obsolete since the first half of the 20th century.

verb (used with object)

1. Chiefly British. to admit (an alien) to residence and certain rights of citizenship in a country.

denizen

/ ˈdɛnɪzən /

noun

1. an inhabitant; occupant; resident
2. an individual permanently resident in a foreign country where he enjoys certain rights of citizenship
3. a plant or animal established in a place to which it is not native
4. a naturalized foreign word

verb

1. tr to make a denizen

Other Words From

• den·i·za·tion [den-, uh, -, zey, -sh, uh, n], den·i·zen·a·tion [den-, uh, -z, uh, -, ney, -sh, uh, n], noun
• den·i·zen·ship noun
• un·den·i·zened adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of denizen¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English denesyn, denisein, from Anglo-French denzein, denszein “(the) one within,” from deinz, dens, denz “inside, on the inside” (from Old French dedens, dedenz; dedans ) + -ein, adjective suffix (from Latin -āneus; -an, -eous ( def ) )

Word History and Origins

Origin of denizen¹

C15: from Anglo-French denisein, from Old French denzein, from denz within, from Latin de intus from within

Example Sentences

He’s a denizen of Free City, a hugely popular open-world video game in which the players can do whatever they want—generally, they just adopt customized tough-guy skins, drive fast in their cartoony cars and rob virtual banks.

From Time

Humans are destroying forests because they lack empathy with their denizens, he says.

From Washington Post

Microwaves are the shortest denizens of the radio wave family.

From Popular-Science

In Boston, for instance, fighting regularly broke out as denizens from the north and south ends of town met with their floats to do battle.

From Washington Post

There were still many moments when I felt dumbfounded by the intensity of the denizens of this foreign world.

From Time

How lovely, than, that one Internet denizen took the time to help these forgotten statesmen find sexual satiation…with each other!

From The Daily Beast

When Kemal, a wealthy denizen of Istanbul, meets Fusun, a beautiful shop girl and distant cousin, the two begin a torrid affair.

From The Daily Beast

It's a small, exclusive French brand that was once only the denizen of select fashionistas.

From The Daily Beast

It embellishes the denizen of the city, and hides the nakedness of barbarism.

From Project Gutenberg

It was strange indeed to meet a living denizen of a world that seemed to her impossible except in books.

From Project Gutenberg

The elephant is the denizen of the forests where, in a succeeding chapter, we shall encounter both him and the rhinoceros.

From Project Gutenberg

The solitary denizen of the plains—the little minivet (Pericrocotus peregrinus)—is the least resplendent of them all.

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes this throat uttered Yes, sometimes it uttered No; sometimes it made inquiries about a time worn denizen of the place.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dweller
• inhabitant
• occupant
• resident