al|ien

al|ien «AYL yuhn, AY lee uhn», noun, adjective, verb.

–n.

1. a resident foreigner. Aliens are not citizens othe country in which they live, and therefore owe their loyalty to another country.

2. a person belonging to a different ethnic or social group; stranger; foreigner.

3. a person excluded.

–adj.

1. of or by another country; foreign: »

alien conquerors, alien domination. French is an alien language to Americans.

2. having the legal status of an alien: »

an alien resident.

3. entirely different from one's own; strange: »

alien customs.

4. not in agreement; opposed, adverse, or repugnant: »

Unkindness is alien to her nature.

–v.t.

to alienate; transfer: »

The executive…could not alien any part of our territory (Thomas Jefferson).

╂[< Old French alien, learned borrowing from Latin aliēnus < alius another]