|
|
- pronunciation:
- eI
li
 n
[or]
eIl
yn
- parts of speech:
- noun, adjective
- features:
- Word Combinations (noun, adjective), Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
a resident of a country who is not a citizen of that country.
Legal aliens have the right to work but cannot vote in elections.- antonyms:
- citizen, native
- similar words:
- foreigner, immigrant, outlander, outsider, resident
|
| definition 2: |
one who is considered foreign to a particular group or family; outsider.
She felt like an alien in her husband's family.
- synonyms:
- outsider, stranger
- antonyms:
- member
- similar words:
- foreigner, outlander
|
| definition 3: |
a living being from another planet or other place in the universe; extraterrestrial.
Do you think our planet has been visited by aliens?- synonyms:
- extraterrestrial
|
| related words: |
barbarian, exile |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition 1: |
belonging to another country in the world.
Travel exposes us to alien customs and beliefs.- synonyms:
- exotic, foreign, strange
- antonyms:
- domestic, kindred, native
- similar words:
- external
|
| definition 2: |
opposed in nature; strange.
His parents' way of life had become alien to him.- synonyms:
- foreign, strange
- antonyms:
- akin, familiar
- similar words:
- odd, outlandish
|
| definition 3: |
from another planet or other place in the universe.
They reported seeing alien life forms in the forest.
- synonyms:
- extraterrestrial
- antonyms:
- terrestrial
|
| related words: |
barbarous, exotic, exterior, foreign, inhuman, new, queer, strange |
|
|
| derivation: |
alienness (n.) |
The English word alien comes from a Latin word alienus that means "belonging to another place or person." In the English spoken in the 1300s, "alien" took on the meaning of "foreigner." Six hundred years later, in the 1900s, "alien" began to be used as a word for beings from another planet.
|
|