alienus

Latin

Etymology

From alius (“other, another”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /a.liˈeː.nus/, [älʲiˈeːnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a.liˈe.nus/, [äliˈɛːnus]

Adjective

aliēnus (feminine aliēna, neuter aliēnum, comparative aliēnior, superlative aliēnissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. Of that which belongs to another person, place, or object—of another, alien, foreign

   Synonyms: aliēnigena, peregrīnus, advena

   • 163 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Heauton Timorumenos 1:

     Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.

     I am a man, I consider nothing that is human alien to me.

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.11:

     quod alienis cladibus ceciderant animi

     Because their spirit had been decayed by the defeats of the others

2. unfriendly, inimical, hostile, suspicious
3. unfamiliar with something or a stranger to something
4. unsuitable, incongruous, inconsistent, strange
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.219:

     primaque pars huius thalamis aliena reperta est

     And the first part of this [month of June] was discovered to be unsuitable for weddings.

5. (of the body) dead; corrupted; paralyzed
6. (of the mind) insane, mad

Declension

First/second-declension adjective, with locative.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	aliēnus	aliēna	aliēnum		aliēnī	aliēnae	aliēna
genitive	aliēnī	aliēnae	aliēnī		aliēnōrum	aliēnārum	aliēnōrum
dative	aliēnō	aliēnae	aliēnō		aliēnīs
accusative	aliēnum	aliēnam	aliēnum		aliēnōs	aliēnās	aliēna
ablative	aliēnō	aliēnā	aliēnō		aliēnīs
vocative	aliēne	aliēna	aliēnum		aliēnī	aliēnae	aliēna
locative	aliēnī	aliēnae	aliēnī		aliēnīs

Derived terms

• aes aliēnum

Descendants

• Insular Romance:
  • Old Sardinian: alienu, aienu, açenu
    • Campidanese: allenu
    • Logudorese: anzenu
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: allè
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Leonese: ayeno, alleno
    • Asturian: ayén, ayenu
    • Leonese: ayenu, axenu
    • Mirandese: alheno
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: alhẽo, alheo
    • Galician: alleo
    • Portuguese: alheio
  • Old Spanish: ageno
    • Ladino: ajeno
    • Spanish: ajeno
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: aliè
  • → Italian: alieno
  • → Old French: alien
    • → English: alien
      • → French: alien
  • → Portuguese: alien

References

• “alienus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “alienus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• alienus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• alienus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to consider a thing beneath one's dignity: aliquid alienum (a) dignitate sua or merely a se ducere
    
  • (ambiguous) the expression is not in accordance with Latin usage: aliquid a consuetudine sermonis latini abhorret, alienum est
    
  • (ambiguous) to have an inclination for a thing: propensum, proclivem esse ad aliquid (opp. alienum, aversum esse, abhorrere ab aliqua re)
    
  • (ambiguous) to incur debts: aes alienum (always in sing.) facere, contrahere
    
  • (ambiguous) to incur debts on a large scale: grande, magnum (opp. exiguum) aes alienum conflare
    
  • (ambiguous) to get into debt: incidere in aes alienum
    
  • (ambiguous) to be in debt: aes alienum habere
    
  • (ambiguous) to pay one's debts: aes alienum dissolvere, exsolvere