stranger
UK /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒɚ/ noun, verb
Also a form of strange
Forms strangers strangering strangered
- noun A person whom one does not know; a person who is neither a friend nor an acquaintance. “That gentleman is a stranger to me.”
- noun An outsider or foreigner.
- noun One not admitted to communion or fellowship.
- noun A newcomer.
- noun (humorous) Used ironically to refer to a person who the speaker knows. “Hello, stranger!”
- noun (obsolete) One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a visitor.
- noun (law) One not privy or party to an act, contract, or title; a mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without right. “Actual possession of land gives a good title against a stranger having no title.”
- noun (obsolete) A superstitious premonition of the coming of a visitor by a bit of stalk in a cup of tea, the guttering of a candle, etc.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To estrange; to alienate.
Synonyms
Antonyms
acquaintance friend compatriot countryman fellow citizen fellow countryman national resident
Etymology
From Middle English straunger, from Old French estrangier (“foreign, alien”), from estrange, from Latin extraneus (“foreign, external”) (whence also English estrange), from extra (“outside of”). Cognate with French étranger (“foreigner, stranger”) and Spanish extranjero (“foreigner”). Displaced native Old English fremde (literally “strange or unfamiliar person”).
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who is strange, foreign, or unknown. Specifically: -- (a) One who comes from a foreign land; a foreigner.
- noun One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a visitor.
- verb To estrange; to alienate. [Obs.] Shak.
Etymology [OF. estrangier, F. étranger. See Strange.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stranger”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details