# alien

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈeɪ.li.ən/ · frequency rank #4,347

## Definitions
1. A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration.
2. A citizen or national of another sovereign state.
3. A mischievous or suspicious foreigner.
4. Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
5. One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **amen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-amen)
- **amin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-amin)
- **aloe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-aloe)
- **aren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-aren)
- **Alon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alon)
- **Arie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-arie)
- **Alun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alun)
- **alive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alive)
- **Asian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-asian)
- **Allen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-allen)
- **alike** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alike)
- **alter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alter)
- **alley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alley)
- **Allan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-allan)
- **align** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-align)
- **Ariel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-ariel)
- **aspen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-aspen)
- **Alvin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alvin)
- **Alton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-alton)
- **Allie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alien-vs-allie)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ailen`, `alein`, `alienn`, `allien`, `laien`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/alien