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al·ien

alien

 
 
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
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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
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derivation: alienness (n.)
Word History
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.
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  outer space, space
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