alienate

English

Etymology

From Middle English alienat, from Latin aliēnātus, perfect passive participle of aliēnō (“alienate, estrange”), from aliēnus. See alien, and confer aliene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/

Adjective

alienate (not comparable)

1. (archaic, followed by "from") Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign
   • 1667, John Milton. Paradise Lost (line 4643)

     O alienate from God.

Noun

alienate (plural alienates)

1. (obsolete) A stranger; an alien.

Verb

1. To convey or transfer to another, as title, property, or right; to part voluntarily with ownership of.
2. To estrange; to withdraw affections or attention from; to make indifferent or averse, where love or friendship before subsisted.
   • (Can we date this quote by Thomas Babington Macaulay and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?):

     The errors which […] alienated a loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart.

   • (Can we date this quote by Isaac Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?):

     The recollection of his former life is a dream that only the more alienates him from the realities of the present.

Usage notes

Alienate is largely synonymous with estrange. However, alienate is used primarily to refer to driving off (“he alienated her with his atrocious behavior”) or to offend a group (“the imprudent remarks alienated the urban demographic”), while estrange is used rather to mean “cut off relations”, particularly in a family setting.

Synonyms

• (estrange): estrange, antagonize, isolate, marginalize

Antonyms

• (estrange): accept

Translations

to convey or transfer

• Catalan: alienar (ca)
• Dutch: vervreemden (nl)
• Finnish: siirtää (fi)
• French: aliéner (fr)
• Galician: allear (gl)
• Interlingue: ,
• Italian: alienare (it), cedere (it), vendere (it), trasferire (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: atsavināt
• Macedonian: о́туѓи (ótuǵi)
• Maori: whakarere rawa
• Norwegian: fremmedgjøre
• Portuguese: alienar (pt)
• Russian: отчужда́ть (ru) impf (otčuždátʹ), отчуди́ть (ru) pf (otčudítʹ)
• Spanish: alienar (es), enajenar (es)

to estrange

• Catalan: alienar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 疏遠／疏远 (zh) (shūyuǎn), 疏远 (zh) (shūyuǎn)

• Czech: odcizit
• Danish: fremmedgøre
• Dutch: vervreemden (nl)
• Esperanto: fremdigi
• Faroese: styggja frá sær
• Finnish: vieraannuttaa
• French: aliéner (fr)
• Galician: alienar
• German: befremden (de), entfremden (de)
• Greek: αποξενώνω (el) (apoxenóno)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: ניכר (nikér)
• Italian: estraniarsi, allontanarsi (it)
• Japanese: 疎外する (ja) (sogai suru), 仲間外れにする (nakamahazure ni suru)
• Latin: aliēnō, abaliēnō
• Latvian: atsvešināt
• Macedonian: о́туѓи (ótuǵi)
• Maltese: barra
• Norwegian: fremmedgjøre
• Old English: āfremdan
• Portuguese: alienar (pt)
• Russian: отчужда́ть (ru) impf (otčuždátʹ), отчуди́ть (ru) pf (otčudítʹ); отвраща́ть (ru) impf (otvraščátʹ), отврати́ть (ru) pf (otvratítʹ); отдаля́ть (ru) impf (otdaljátʹ), отдали́ть (ru) pf (otdalítʹ)
• Spanish: alienar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} отчуждавам (bg) (otčuždavam)
• German: ^{(please verify)} entfremden (de)
• (deprecated template usage) Gilbertese: bure
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} alienare (it)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} abaliēnō, ^{(please verify)} aliēnō

References

• “alienate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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Italian

Adjective

alienate f pl

1. feminine plural of alienato

Noun

alienate f

1. plural of alienata

Verb

alienate

1. second-person plural present of alienare
2. second-person plural imperative of alienare
3. feminine plural past participle of alienare

Anagrams

• aneliate

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) aliēnāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of aliēnō

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Middle English

Adjective

alienate

1. Alternative form of alienat