i Register
In some senses, denizen is marked as British, historical. Watch for register when choosing this word.
denizen
/ˈdɛn.ɪ.zən/
noun 5verb 2
Collocations
4ADJ.
fierce, other, soon
DENIZEN + NOUN
d, domineer, internet
PREP.
with
ADV.
evidently
Definitions
noun
1
An inhabitant of a place; one who dwells in a certain place.
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.
2
One who frequents a place.
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.
3
A person with rights between those of naturalized citizen and resident alien (roughly permanent resident), obtained through letters patent.
1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke, London, The xiiii yere, Then by commaundement wer all Fre[n]chemen and Scottes imprisoned and the goodes seazed, and all suche as were denizens were commaunded to shewe their letters patentes […]
A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien and a natural-born subject, and partakes of both.
4
An animal or plant from a particular range or habitat.
The bald eagle is a denizen of the northern part of the state.
5
A foreign word that has become naturalised in another language in terms of use, but not in terms of form.
verb
1
To grant rights of citizenship to; to naturalize.
He was denizened to Ireland after fleeing his home country.
[The Horse-Chessnut] was first brought from Constantinople to Vienna, thence into Italy, and so France; but to Ʋs from the Levant more immediately, and flourishes so well, and grows so goodly a Tree in compe[te]nt time, that by this alone, we might have ample encouragement to Denizen other strangers amongst us.
2
To provide with denizens; to populate with adopted or naturalized occupants.
1849, Joseph Dalton Hooker, “Extracts from the Private Letters of Dr. J. D. Hooker, written during a Botanical Mission to India” in William Jackson Hooker (editor), Hooker’s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany, London: Reeve, Benham and Reeve, Volume 1, p. 85, There were a few islets in the sand […] . These were at once denizened by the Calotropis, Argemone, Tamarix, Gnaphalium luteoalbum and two other species […] .
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — a person who inhabits a particular place
- inhabitant
- habitant
- dweller
- indweller
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
The giant squid is one of many denizens of the deep.
Wiktionary02
[…] 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.
Wiktionary03
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.
Wiktionary04
He was denizened to Ireland after fleeing his home country.
Wiktionary05
[The Horse-Chessnut] was first brought from Constantinople to Vienna, thence into Italy, and so France; but to Ʋs from the Levant more immediately, and flourishes so well, and grows so goodly a Tree i
Wiktionary06
And, soon as Denizen’d, they domineer.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
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