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denizen: msg#00005

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: denizen

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The Word of the Day for October 6 is:

denizen \DEN-uh-zun\ noun
*1 : inhabitant
2 : a person admitted to residence in a foreign country;
especially : an alien admitted to rights of citizenship
3 : one that frequents a place

Example sentence:
The denizens of the small town were excited about the news
that a film crew would be shooting a movie right in their own
backyard.

Did you know?
English speakers have used "denizen" in the
sense "inhabitant" since the 15th century. The word comes from
the Anglo-French "denzein," which means "inhabitant," "inner
part," or "inner." If you trace the lineage back even further,
you'll find that "denzein" itself derives from the
Latin "intus," which means "within." Nowadays, "denizen" is
sometimes used for naturalized citizens or for frequent visitors
as well as inhabitants. Despite the similarity between "denizen"
and "citizen," the two words do not share any etymological
roots. However, one ancestor of "citizen" is the Anglo-
French "citezein," whose spelling was altered from "citeien"
(from "cite," meaning "city"). The presence of "denzein" in
Anglo-French may have influenced this change in spelling, as the
two words were often considered equivalent terms in that
language.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.






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