- pronunciation:
- eI
li
n
[or]
eIl
yn
- parts of speech:
- noun, adjective
- features:
- Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
someone who lives in a country who is not a citizen of that country.
Because my parents are aliens, they cannot vote in elections here.- antonyms:
- citizen, native
- similar words:
- foreigner, immigrant, outsider, resident
|
| definition 2: |
a living being from another planet; extraterrestrial. There is no evidence that aliens exist, but many people believe there is life on other planets.
She had a dream that some friendly aliens took her away in their spaceship. |
| related words: |
barbarian, exile |
|
| |
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition 1: |
belonging to another country; foreign.
Pineapple plants are alien to Canada.- synonyms:
- exotic, foreign, strange
- antonyms:
- domestic
|
| definition 2: |
from a planet other than Earth; extraterrestrial.
He is sure he saw alien spaceships flying over the desert. |
| definition 3: |
strange or odd because unfamiliar.
It seems alien to me that my British cousin drives on the left side of the road.- synonyms:
- foreign, strange
- antonyms:
- akin, familiar
- similar words:
- odd
|
| related words: |
exotic, foreign, 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.