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denizen: msg#00005culture.language.word-of-the-day
***************************************************************** Discover the people and events that made history ON THIS DAY. Sign up for the free daily newsletter from Britannica. http://register.britannica.com/mailinglist ***************************************************************** 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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