alien

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A creature from another planet or from outer space.

   The film tells the story of aliens landing on Earth.

2. 2
   adj

   Strange and unfamiliar; very different from what you are used to.

   The customs of the remote village felt completely alien to her.

3. 3
   noun

   A person who is a citizen of another country; a foreigner.

   As an alien, he needed a special permit to work in the country.

4. 4
   verb

   To cause someone to feel distant or unfriendly where there was once warmth.

   His harsh words aliened the very friends who had supported him.

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.

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