alienism

noun — 3 senses

alienism

noun

UK /ˈeɪ.lɪ.ən.ɪz.əm/

Etymology From alien + -ism.

1

Usually The fact or position of being an alien; alienage.

2

Usually A foreignism, a word (or trait, etc) from another language (or country, etc).

  • The diction of the dialogue is essentially the same as that of the chorus, the slight difference being due to a little greater restriction in the use of alienisms in the former on account of the use of the iambic metre.1904, Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Charles William Emil Miller, Tenney Frank, Benjamin Dean Meritt, Harold Fredrik Cherniss, Henry Thompson Rowell, American Journal of Philology, page 305:
  • Alienisms in Our Language. By the present we shall know the past. From the way European languages, notably English, are spreading among our people, we can imagine with what ease and eagerness our forefathers acclimatized the ...1972, Inazō Nitobe, The Works of Inazo Nitobe: Editorial jottings, 1930-1933:
1 more example
  • In most cases English words appear in novels either as alienisms, in domesticated forms or as loan-words. Interpolated alienisms usually point to imported objects, for example drinks such as Cocacola, brandy (Kizazi), [...]1990, Rajmund Ohly, The Zanzibarian Challenge: Swahili Prose in the Years 1975-1981:
Related terms
allogenism

alienism

noun

Etymology From French aliénisme, from aliéné in the meaning of "insane".

1

Archaic The study or treatment of mental disorders; psychiatry.

  • 2016 Dr. Seward, Penny Dreadful s3e1, 32min Since I'm sure you're not familiar with alienism I'll tell you how it works.
Related terms
alienist

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.