alien

Historically, the word alien has been used in a way that is now often considered disparaging and offensive: to refer to a person who was born in one country and now lives in another country without having become a citizen.

Alien and its more general synonym foreigner are now often considered disparaging and offensive due to being used in a way that’s intended to otherize a person—mark them as different and unwelcome. Such use is typically attributed to xenophobia, racism, and anti-immigrant stances.

This sense of alien is found in legal terms like ​​resident alien and illegal alien. General and legal use of these terms has decreased in recent years, but they are still in use in many cases.

Relatedly, many object to the word illegal in illegal alien and illegal immigrant due to its implication that a person’s very existence can be illegal.

There are other common uses of the word alien that are not considered offensive, but that are also based on the idea of something being unfamiliar or from an entirely different place.

Alien can be used as an adjective to describe something as entirely unfamiliar, as in It was the first time he had returned in many years, and the place now seemed alien to him. The word foreign can be used in the same way.

The word alien is also commonly used as a noun to refer to a being from another planet, sometimes called an extraterrestrial or a space alien. The classic image of an alien from science fiction and pop culture (the one that comes out of a flying saucer) is a little green humanoid with a big head and large eyes. But aliens have been depicted in many different ways.

The first records of the word alien come from around 1300. It ultimately comes from the Latin word aliēnus, meaning “foreign,” which itself comes from the word alius, meaning  “other.”

Related words include the verb alienate, meaning “to cause to be withdrawn or isolated,” as well as the adjective form alienated and the noun alienation.

What are some synonyms for alien?

• extraterrestrial (in the sense of a space alien)

What are some words that share a root or word element with alien? 

• alienate
• alienated
• alienation

What are some words that often get used in discussing alien?

• immigrant
• resident
• citizen
• citizenship
• nationality
• space
• invasion
• abduction
• foreign
• unfamiliar

When used in the context of citizenship and immigration, the word alien is often considered disparaging and offensive. However, it’s also commonly used as an adjective meaning “unfamiliar” and to refer to a being from another planet, especially in the context of science fiction.

I was thinking just now that if peaceful aliens arrived on Earth and made their presence known, humans would not be very generous hosts.

— Elspeth Eastman (@ElspethEastman) March 2, 2014

We're gonna see and meet aliens this year.

— Mutahar (@OrdinaryGamers) June 4, 2020

True or False? 

The word alien derives from a Latin word meaning “other.”