STRANGER

stranger, alien, unknown

(noun) anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found

stranger

(noun) an individual that one is not acquainted with

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

stranger

comparative form of strange

Noun

stranger (plural strangers)

A person whom one does not know; a person who is neither a friend nor an acquaintance.

An outsider or foreigner.

A newcomer.

(humorous) One who has not been seen for a long time.

(obsolete) One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a visitor.

(legal) One not privy or party to an act, contract, or title; a mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without right.

(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.

Hyponyms

• (outsider, foreigner): alien, foreigner, foreign national, non-national/nonnational, non-resident/nonresident, outsider; see also foreigner or outcast

Synonyms

• (person whom one does not know)

• (newcomer): newbie, newcomer; see also newcomer or beginner

Antonyms

• (person whom one does not know): acquaintance, friend

• (outsider, foreigner): compatriot, countryman, fellow citizen, fellow countryman, national, resident

• (newcomer)

Verb

stranger (third-person singular simple present strangers, present participle strangering, simple past and past participle strangered)

(obsolete, transitive) To estrange; to alienate.

Anagrams

• granters, regrants

Source: Wiktionary

Stran"ger, n. Etym: [OF. estrangier, F. étranger. See Strange.]

1. One who is strange, foreign, or unknown. Specifically: -- (a) One who comes from a foreign land; a foreigner. I am a most poor woman and a stranger, Born out of your dominions. Shak.

(b) One whose home is at a distance from the place where he is, but in the same country. (c) One who is unknown or unacquainted; as, the gentleman is a stranger to me; hence, one not admitted to communication, fellowship, or acquaintance. Melons on beds of ice are taught to bear, And strangers to the sun yet ripen here. Granville. My child is yet a stranger in the world. Shak. I was no stranger to the original. Dryden.

2. One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a visitor. To honor and receive Our heavenly stranger. Milton.

3. (Law)

Definition: One not privy or party an act, contract, or title; a mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without right; as, actual possession of land gives a good title against a stranger having no title; as to strangers, a mortgage is considered merely as a pledge; a mere stranger to the levy.

Stran"ger, v. t.

Definition: To estrange; to alienate. [Obs.] Shak.

STRANGE

Strange, a. [Compar. Stranger; superl. Strangest.] Etym: [OE. estrange, F. étrange, fr. L. extraneus that is without, external, foreign, fr. extra on the outside. See Extra, and cf. Estrange, Extraneous.]

1. Belonging to another country; foreign. "To seek strange strands." Chaucer. One of the strange queen's lords. Shak. I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues. Ascham.

2. Of or pertaining to others; not one's own; not pertaining to one's self; not domestic. So she, impatient her own faults to see, Turns from herself, and in strange things delights. Sir J. Davies.

3. Not before known, heard, or seen; new. Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you. Shak.

4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual; irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. "He is sick of a strange fever." Shak. Sated at length, erelong I might perceive Strange alteration in me. Milton.

5. Reserved; distant in deportment. Shak. She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee. Hawthorne.

6. Backward; slow. [Obs.] Who, loving the effect, would not be strange In favoring the cause. Beau. & Fl.

7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced. In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange. Shak.

Note: Strange is often used as an exclamation. Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the snow High on the Alps, or in deep caves below. Waller. Strange sail (Naut.), an unknown vessel.

– Strange woman (Script.), a harlot. Prov. v. 3.

– To make it strange. (a) To assume ignorance, suspicion, or alarm, concerning it. Shak. (b) To make it a matter of difficulty. [Obs.] Chaucer.

– To make strange, To make one's self strange. (a) To profess ignorance or astonishment. (b) To assume the character of a stranger. Gen. xlii. 7.

Syn.

– Foreign; new; outlandish; wonderful; astonishing; marvelous; unusual; odd; uncommon; irregular; queer; eccentric.

Strange, adv.

Definition: Strangely. [Obs.] Most strange, but yet most truly, will I speak. Shak.

Strange, v. t.

Definition: To alienate; to estrange. [Obs.]

Strange, v. i.

1. To be estranged or alienated. [Obs.]

2. To wonder; to be astonished. [Obs.] Glanvill.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition