alien

English Online Dictionary. What means alien‎? What does alien mean?

English

Alternative forms

• alyaunte (15th–16th centuries)

Etymology

From Middle English alien, a borrowing from Old French alien, aliene, from Latin aliēnus (“belonging to someone else”, later “exotic, foreign”), from Latin alius (“other”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos. Related to English else.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.li.ən/

Noun

alien (plural aliens)

1. A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration.
2. (sometimes derogatory) A person in a country not their own.
3. Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
4. One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.

Synonyms

• (person, etc. from outside): fremd (rare, chiefly dialectal), guest, stranger
• (foreigner): outlander; see also Thesaurus:foreigner
• (life form of extraterrestrial origin): See also Thesaurus:extraterrestrial

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

alien (comparative more alien, superlative most alien)

1. Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign.

   Synonyms: allotrious, strange; see also Thesaurus:foreign

2. Very unfamiliar, strange, or removed.

   Synonyms: monstrous, weird; see also Thesaurus:strange
3. Pertaining to extraterrestrial life; typical of an extraterrestrial creature.

   Synonyms: extraterrestrial, nonterrestrial, xenomorphic

Translations

Verb

alien (third-person singular simple present aliens, present participle aliening, simple past and past participle aliened)

2. (transitive) To estrange; to alienate.
3. (law) To transfer the ownership of something.

Alternative forms

• aliene

Anagrams

• linea, laine, elain, anile, Aline, liane, Eilan, Elian, Elina, aline, A-line, Elain, Nelia

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əˈli.ən]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈli.en]

Verb

alien

1. third-person plural present indicative of aliar

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English alien (“stranger, foreigner”), from Middle English alien, from Old French alien, from Latin aliēnus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeː.li.ən/
• Hyphenation: ali‧en

Noun

alien m (plural aliens)

1. an alien, an extraterrestrial

   Synonyms: buitenaards wezen, ruimtewezen

Finnish

Etymology

< English alien, from Ridley Scott's film Alien from 1979.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlien/, [ˈɑ̝lie̞n]
• IPA^(key): /ˈei̯lien/, [ˈe̞i̯lie̞n]
• Rhymes: -ɑlien
• Hyphenation^(key): ali‧en

Noun

alien

1. alien, extraterrestial (extraterrestrial creature, especially a dangerous one)

   Synonym: avaruusolento

Declension

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English alien (“stranger, foreigner”), from Middle English alien, from Old French alien, from Latin aliēnus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ljɛn/

Noun

alien m (plural aliens)

1. alien (extraterrestrial)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French alien, aliene, from Latin aliēnus. Some forms (chiefly nominal) show assimilation to the suffix -ant.

Alternative forms

• alyon, alean, alyen, aliand, aliaund, aliant, alyant

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːliˈɛːn/, /ˈaːliɛn/, /ˈaːliən/
• (with assimilation) IPA^(key): /ˈaːliant/, /ˈaːliau̯nt/

Noun

alien (plural aliens)

1. An outsider or foreign person, especially if resident in one's nation.
2. One who is alien in some other way (e.g. religion, family)
3. (rare) An unlawful occupier or possessor of land.

Related terms

Descendants

• English: alien
• Scots: alien, awlien

References

• “āliē̆n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-25.

Adjective

alien (plural and weak singular aliene)

1. Outside, alien, foreign; from or relating to another nation.
2. Religiously outside; heretical, erring; of false religion or morals.
3. Distant, isolated, secure, away (from something)
4. (rare) Under the authority of other nation's religious institutions.
5. (rare) Not relating to or of oneself; not natural (to one's body).
6. (rare) Bizarre, weird, exotic.

Descendants

• English: alien
• Scots: alien, awlien

References

• “āliēn, ālien, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-25.

Etymology 2

From Old French alier.

Verb

alien

1. Alternative form of allien

Old French

Etymology

From Latin aliēnus.

Adjective

alien m (oblique and nominative feminine singular aliene)

1. alien; foreign; non-native
   • 11th century, La Vie de Saint Alexis, BNF manuscript 19525

Declension

Noun

alien oblique singular, m (oblique plural aliens, nominative singular aliens, nominative plural alien)

1. alien (a non-native)

Declension

Descendants

• → Middle English: alien, alyon, alean, alyen, aliand, aliaund, aliant, alyant
  • English: alien
  • Scots: alien, awlien

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• álien

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English alien (“extraterrestrial life form”). Doublet of alheio.

Pronunciation

Noun

alien m (plural aliens)

1. alien; extraterrestrial life form

   Synonyms: alienígena, ET, extraterrestre

Spanish

Alternative forms

• alién

Etymology

English alien (“extraterrestrial life form”). Or clipping of alienígena

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaljen/ [ˈa.ljẽn]
• Rhymes: -aljen
• Syllabification: a‧lien

Noun

alien m (plural aliens)

1. alien; extraterrestrial life form

   Synonyms: ET, extraterrestre

Further reading

• “alien”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10