alien English · revision 6199

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la alius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈeɪ.li.ən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|alien|t=strange, foreign]] and directly [[bor|la|aliēnus|t=belonging to another, foreign]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|alius|t=other, another]] (see [[else]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from PIE [[ine-pro|*h₂el-|t=beyond, other]].^(Etymonline) The verb, to transfer property, is from [[m|fro|aliener]], from [[m|la|aliēnāre]] (see [[alienate]]).^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Strange, foreign: probably before 1300 in ''Kyng Alisaunder'', about 1300 in Etymonline;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the noun, a stranger or foreigner, before 1338 in Mannyng's ''Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of a foreign nation and allegiance, residing in a country not of one's birth, is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) An ''alien priory'' (mid-15th century) was one owing obedience to a religious house abroad.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Wholly different in nature or character, as ''alien to our ways'', is from the 1670s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and dissimilar or opposed from 1382.^(OED 1989) A plant brought from another country and naturalized is from 1903.^(OED 1989) The meaning “not of this Earth” is recorded by 1920,^(Etymonline) and Word Origins dates beings from another planet to the 1920s;^(Cresswell 2021) the science-fiction noun is from 1953 in Etymonline and the adjective from 1944 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – strange, foreign.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1338 – a stranger.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1382 – dissimilar, opposed.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – a foreign resident.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1670s – different in nature.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1920 – not of this Earth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1953 – a being from another planet.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Owing allegiance to another country; [[foreign]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Strange and unfamiliar.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Different in nature or opposed: ''cruelty was alien to her''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # From another world; [[extraterrestrial]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A foreign resident of a country who is not a [[citizen]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A being from another planet.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An outsider; a plant or animal from another region.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(law)'' To transfer property to another; to [[alienate]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alienly]]

+ * [[alienness]]

+ * [[alienage]]

+ * [[illegal alien]]

+ * [[resident alien]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alienate]]

+ * [[alienation]]

+ * [[alias]]

+ * [[alibi]]

+ * [[else]]

+ * [[inalienable]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}