Alien 外星人

Alien comes to English from the Latin alienus meaning "belonging to another." When it first entered English in the 1300s, it referred to an outsider, someone born in another country, or someone who is unfamiliar. It was not until the late 1920s that alien took on its sci-fi meaning of "an intelligent being from another planet." Similarly, when earthling first entered English in the late-1500s, it meant someone who lived on earth, not in heaven. Only in the mid-1800s did it take on the sci-fi meaning of a person who is not an alien.

Alien一词源自拉丁语的alienus，意为“属于另一个的”。14世纪进入英语时，alien指的是外来者、生于其他国家的人或不熟悉的人。直到1920年代，alien才有了科幻含义“外星人”。同样，当earthling一词最早进入英语时，指的是地上的人，而非天堂的人。19世纪中期，它才有了科幻含义“地球人”。