denizen
/ˈdɛn ə zən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.15 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An inhabitant of a place; one who dwells in a certain place.
noun
A person with rights between those of naturalized citizen and resident alien (roughly permanent resident), obtained through letters patent.
British usage
noun
An animal or plant from a particular range or habitat.
noun
A foreign word that has become naturalised in another language in terms of use, but not in terms of form.
Example Sentences
- "The giant squid is one of many denizens of the deep."
- "[…] adversity bends the heart as fire bends the stubborn steel, and those who are no longer their own governors, and the denizens of their own free independent state, must crouch before strangers."
- "The cries of the gorilla proclaimed that it was in mortal combat with some other denizen of the fierce wood. Suddenly these cries ceased, and the silence of death reigned throughout the jungle."
- "The denizens of that pub are of the roughest sort."
- "He was well known to the sallow denizens of the lane; for such of them as were on the look-out to buy or sell, nodded, familiarly, as he passed along."
- "As a fan of West Ham United I’m always looking to legitimise my dislike of Chelsea FC. And on first viewing, this week’s jarring retro-Métro-racism seems like a good reason to condemn the denizens of Stamford Bridge."
Etymology
From Middle English denisein, from Old French denzein, from deinz (“within”) + -ein, from Late Latin dē intus (“from within”), whence French dans.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɛn ə zən/
- British English: /ˈdɛn.ɪ.zən/
Usage
- British usage
- Transitive verb