▪ I. stranger, n. (and a.)
(ˈstreɪndʒə(r))
Forms: 4 strangere, 4–5 straungere, 4–6 straunger, 5 strangier, -yer, straungeour, -ior, -yer, strawnger(e, strayngour, strongere, strounger, (6 strenger), 5–6 Sc. strainger, strangear, 6 straungier, 4– stranger. See also estranger.
[Aphetic a. OF. estrangier (mod.F. étranger) = Pr. estrangier, Sp. extrangero, Pg. estrangeiro, It. straniere, straniero:—popular L. *extrāneārius, f. L. extrāne-us: see extraneous and strange adjs.
The OF. word (like its equivalents in the other Rom. langs.) is primarily and chiefly an adj.; in Eng. the subst. use is primary, such adjectival uses as exist (see 13 below) being almost wholly developed from the attributive use of the n.]
1. a. One who belongs to another country, a foreigner; chiefly (now exclusively), one who resides in or comes to a country to which he is a foreigner; an alien.
Now somewhat rare; the recent examples show mixture of sense 2 or 4.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xx. 402 And to the lord Dowglass gaf he The waward, for to leid and steir All haill the strangeris with him weir. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 26 God mad hym to rest syn in france, in toron, til honouryt be, set þare a strangere was he. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 1109 More ouer take hede he must to aliene commers straungeres, and to straungers of þis land, resient dwelleres. 1487 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 2 One Martin Swarte, a straunger, slayne all in a feild that they made againste the Kinge. 1493 Sc. Acts Jas. IV (1814) II. 234/1 Quhene ony schip of alienaris or strangearis of vþer realmes cummys in þe havin of Leith. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. p. xxxii, We kepe also the poure people with our almes alle that cometh be it strenger or of oure owne people. 1569 in Southampton Court Leet Rec. (1905) I. 58 That none w{supt}{suph}in the towne of Southampton englishe or stranger by enne butter other then for theire owne stowere. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Pref., Then was I forced to runne to the workes of manie, both strangers and Englishmen..for a solution..of my doubt. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶11 As St. Augustine saith; A man had rather be with his dog than with a stranger (whose tongue is strange vnto him). 1650 A. Cowley in T. Brown Misc. Aulica (1702) 134 His Forces compos'd of about six hundred Strangers, and the rest drawn out of the Islands, are about two thousand. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 101 Strangers (that is, men not used to live under the same government, nor speaking the same language). 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 358 At last they seise The Scepter, and regard not Davids Sons, Then loose it to a stranger. a 1700 Evelyn Diary (1879) I. 3 In the judgement of Strangers as well as Englishmen it [sc. Wotton] may be compared to [etc.]. 1729 T. Cooke Tales etc. 213 If stated Rules are observed..the Facility of learning the Language will be no small Inducement to the Study of it in Strangers. 1870 Duke of Argyll Iona i. 14 The story..that a British chief invited the Saxon stranger from across the German Sea. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xvii. 55 In a generation or two the stranger ceased to be a stranger. The foreign spoiler..insensibly changed into the son of the soil. 1906 W. A. Craigie Relig. Anc. Scandinavia iv. 57 In Sweden, indeed, strangers appear to have run some risk of being selected as victims. |
† b. Something that comes from abroad; esp. an exotic plant. Obs.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxxxvii. 440 The apple of Perow is a stranger also [Ibid., supra: a strange plant]. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxxiii. 133 The last [flower] is a stranger in England, yet we haue it and the rest in our gardens. 1657 Coles Adam in Eden cxi, There are divers Sorts of Wood-binds, some..known throughout the Land;..others are strangers, or not so well known. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xi. 17 This Declining Dial being a Stranger with us, followeth the fashion of his own Country. 1732 Lyttelton Progr. Love ii. 69 A Bird..Whose yellow Plumage shines like polish'd Gold; From distant Isles the lovely Stranger came, And bears the fortunate Canaries Name. |
2. a. One who is not a native of, or who has not long resided in, a country, town, or place. Chiefly, a new comer, one who has not yet become well acquainted with the place, or (cf. 4) one who is not yet well known.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Saints i. (Marg.) 881 Allas, quod he, euene as a straunger And as vnknowyn also in this cuntre Ineuytabylly I must deyin her. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier C 2, Because I am a stranger in this land, & but here lately ariued, they wil hold me as an vpstart. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 90 Pardon me sir, the boldnesse is mine owne, That being a stranger in this Cittie heere, Do make my selfe a sutor to your daughter. a 1626 Bacon New Atlantis 5 He came to conduct vs to the Strangers House... The Strangers House is a faire and spacious House, built of Brick, [etc.]. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho vi, I cannot show you the way, for I am almost a stranger here. 1845 Gosse Ocean iv. (1849) 178 But of all the constellations that stud the sky of the southern hemisphere, there is none that more strikes a stranger than the Southern Cross. 1860 Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 311 Some allowance is to be made for him from the fact of his being a stranger in these seas. |
| transf. a 1767 M. Bruce Ode to Cuckoo 1 Hail, beauteous Stranger of the wood! Attendant on the Spring! 1811 Hogg Verses to Comet of 1811, 9 Stranger of heaven! I bid thee hail! 1864 R. Semmes Cruise Alabama & Sumter I. 64 The Governor at once proceeded to take legal opinion as to the propriety of permitting the suspicious stranger [the Sumter] to coal. 1892 E. Lawless Grania I. 179 Leaning against a big boulder, a ‘stranger’ like the one that blocked the mouth of their own gully. |
† b. In parochial registers: A person not belonging to the parish. Obs.
The Latin equivalent extraneus (extranea) was also commonly used.
| 1507–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 262 R' of stevyn sawnderson for the beryell of a stranger, xij d. 1517–18 Ibid. 299 Ress' for the buryall of a straunger in þe greate chirche⁓yard..viij d. 1585 in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1863) II. 128 A poore child beinge a stranger bapt{supd} the 13th of Julye. |
† c. strangers' silver (Sc.).
| 1591 Exch. Rolls Scot. XXII. 156 Borrowit fra the said clerk of register be his majestie of the straingeris siluer consignit in his handis. |
3. a. A guest or visitor, in contradistinction to the members of the household. Now chiefly with mixture of sense 4.
to make a stranger of: to treat with ceremony, not as one of the family. Chiefly with negative.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iv. 29 At grete Festes and for Straungeres, thei setten Formes and Tables. 1420–2 Lydg. Thebes ii. 1468 The fresshnesse of Her heuenly cheres So agreable was to the straungers,..that..hem thoght it lik a thyng Celestial. 1430–40 Bk. Curtasye 801 in Babees Bk. 326 But he sende hit to ony strongere, A pese þat is hym leue and dere. c 1450–60 Bp. Grossetestè's Househ. Stat. Ibid. 330 Commaunde ye the officers that they admitte your knowlechyd men, familiers frendys, and strangers, with mery chere. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 1155 He gart at ane sete burd the strangearis begin, The maist seymly in sale ordanit thame sete. c 1470 Rauf Coilȝear 214 Gyll, lat the cop raik for my bennysoun; And gar our Gaist begin, and syne drink thow to me; Sen he is ane stranger, me think it ressoun. 1509 Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 296 The housholde seruauntes muste be put in some good ordre. The straungers of honeste..must be consydered. 1519 in Archæologia XXV. 425 Straungers in y⊇ same week Imprimis M{supr} Roger Woodows & his wyff, & his iiij servants from Sondaye till Wedynsdaye. 1577 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 102 If that a straunger syt thee neare, See thou make him good cheare. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 316 And what thy stores contain, bring forth and poure Abundance, fit to honour and receive Our Heav'nly stranger. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. i. v. 93 That part that fronts the Gate, has a pretty neat room, which seems to be designed for the reception of Strangers. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxxii, He now resides..at a relation's house,..seldom sitting at the side-table, except when there is no room at the other; for they make no stranger of him. |
| transf. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. 76 A ground drye, fatte, and well laboured with the Mattocke, wherein the stranger may be well cherished [L. aduenis hospitale]. |
b. Any of the things which are popularly imagined to forebode the coming of an unexpected visitor, e.g. a floating tea-leaf in the cup; an excrescence on the wick of a candle, causing guttering; a piece of soot flapping on the bar of the grate; a moth flying towards one.
| 1798 Coleridge Frost at Midnight 20 Only that film, which flutter'd on the grate, Still flutters there... Ah me!.. How often in my early school-boy days, With most believing superstitious wish Presageful have I gaz'd upon the bars, To watch the stranger there! 1838 G. Wilson Let. in Jessie A. Wilson Mem. iii. (1860) 136 Have you seen any strangers floating in your tea? 1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds 423 Stranger, a name given to the soot-flakes which peel off, and flutter on the bars of fire⁓grates [etc.]. 1870 Brand's Pop. Antiq. (ed. Hazl.) III. 181 A kind of fungus in the candle, he [sc. Grose] observes, predicts the visit of a stranger from that part of the country nearest the object. [Addit. note] This is called a stranger. 1894 R. Leighton Wreck Golden Fleece 84 Pausing only to take up the silver snuffers and clip a ‘stranger’ from the wick of the guttering candle. 1896 L. Proudlock Borderland Muse 7 Oh see, Granny, see! A stranger sae bonnilie flaps on the bars. |
4. a. An unknown person; a person whom one has not seen before; also in wider sense, a person with whom one is not yet well acquainted. Phrases, a perfect, a total, an utter stranger. Const. to.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1075 And, for he was a straunger, somwhat she Lyked him the bet, as..To som folk ofte newe thing is swote. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xii. 43 Incontynente that she felte her self to be thus sodaynly kyst of a man straunger out of her knowlege, she [etc.]. 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 81/1 So that if thou consider this well, thou maist loke vpon deth, not as a stranger, but as a nigh neibour. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. iv. 4 The Duke..hath known you but three dayes, and already you are no stranger. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 30 Jan. 1653, At our own parish Church a stranger preach'd. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 283 When I came to England, I was as perfect a Stranger to all the World, as if I had never been known there. 1798 S. Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 488 Sir Edward, perceiving..a person quite a stranger to him. 1825 Lytton Zicci i, But the stranger had an air and tone with him it was impossible to resist. 1876 J. Parker Paracl. i. viii. 114 He [Christ] has always been a stranger, viewed with suspicion. 1893 D. Davidson Mem. Long Life viii. (ed. 2) 198 Mr. Bell was sitting at breakfast, when a stranger entered his bungalow. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert v. 41 After all, you must remember that up to a few days ago you were a comparative stranger to your aunt Jane. |
| transf. 1878 H. S. Leigh Town Garland 77 Helvellyn I have never seen, While Snowdon is a stranger quite. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 168 Would I not drive myself? No; I could drive a horse of my own, but would have nothing to do with a stranger. |
b. Said playfully of a newborn child. Usu. little stranger.
‘Welcome, little stranger!’ was a quotation common in the early part of the 19th century, and sometimes printed or embroidered on articles for nursery use.
| a 1674 T. Traherne Centuries of Meditations (1927) iii. ii. 151, I was a little stranger, which at my entrance into the world was saluted and surrounded with innumerable joys. 1787 J. Woodforde Diary 6 May (1926) II. 320 Mrs. Custance was brought to bed of a Boy about 11 o'clock this Morn'. She with the little stranger as well as can be expected. 1829 Scott Guy M. Introd., ‘I fear from your looks,’ said the father, ‘that you have bad tidings to tell me of my young stranger’. 1856 H. Mayhew Rhine 41 A medical bulletin, informing you of that day's state of health of some ‘little stranger’ and its mother within. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas, Three-decker 14 We never talked obstetrics when the Little Stranger came. |
c. Vocatively. Orig. in rustic use in the U.S., a customary mode of address to one whose name is unknown. Now in gen. colloq. use, to address one who has not been seen for some time.
| 1817 M. Birkbeck Notes Journ. Amer. (1818) 81 On my way..a man..hailed me with the common, but to us quaint appellation of ‘stranger’. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie ix, I should be better pleased, stranger,..to be sure the creature was a beast at all. 1884 C. Phillipps-Wolley Trottings of Tenderfoot 33 Mighty big feet of yourn, ain't they, stranger? 1934 E. O'Neill Days without End ii. 59 Hello, Stranger. 1969 New Yorker 3 May 34/3 ‘Well, stranger, where've you been?’ she greeted me. ‘Why didn't you come back like you said?’ 1973 Weekly News (Glasgow) 11 Aug. 5/1 (caption) Hello, there, stranger! 1977 F. Parrish Fire in Barley iii. 31 ‘Mornin', stranger,’ said..the landlord. ‘How's the old lady keepin'?’ ‘Fairish,’ said Dan. |
d. Predicatively, said of one whose visits have long ceased. Similarly in phr. to be (quite) a stranger and varr., said of an infrequent visitor. † Also, one who never visits (a place), an absentee from.
| 1530 Palsgr. 625/2, I make my selfe a straunger for leavyng to resorte to a place, je me aliene. 1540 ― Acolastus i. i. D j, Pel. Hast thou not herde tell..of my sonne? Ev. What studyeth he..? Pel. To make hym selfe a straunger from his fathers howse [etc.]. 1580 G. Harvey Three Proper Lett. 37, I am lately become a maruellous great straunger at myne olde Mistresse Poetries. 1620 [G. Brydges] Horæ Subs. 174 To make themselues altogether strangers from the Court and Towne is too strict. 1706 De Foe Appar. Mrs. Veal (1732) 3, I am surprized to see you, you have been so long a Stranger. c 1807 Jane Austen Watsons in J. Leigh Mem. Jane Austen (1871) 349 ‘So Emma,’ said he, ‘you are quite a stranger at home.’ 1860 C. M. Yonge Friarswood Post-Office vii. 115 Ha! Harold King! Well, to be sure, you are a stranger! 1884 A. S. Swan Carlowrie x. 161 ‘Eh, Miss Ritchie, what a stranger!’ exclaimed Mrs. Dalrymple's pleasant voice. 1910 A. Bennett Clayhanger iii. vii. 378 ‘Well, Mr. Clayhanger,’ said the steward... ‘You're quite a stranger.’ 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) 219 You are a great stranger now. 1937 A. Upfield Mr. Jelly's Business xx. 211 Hello, Mr. Muir! You're quite a stranger. 1962 G. Avery Greatest Gresham ix. 162 Well, if it isn't the kiddies from next door. Why, you are strangers these days. |
e. Austral. and N.Z. An animal which has strayed from a neighbouring flock or herd.
| 1852 J. R. Clough Jrnl. 11 Feb. in Deans Lett. 1840–54 (1937) 290 Branded 57 calves..counted all the other cattle; 201 of them strangers. 1933 L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 16 Dec. 21/8 Stranger, a sheep of a neighbour's on your own run. 1965 J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry ii. 28 Stranger, a strange sheep, probably from an adjoining property, which has joined the flock being shorn. 1972 P. Newton Sheep Thief xvi. 137 There was nothing unusual in..having a few ‘strangers’ (neighbour's sheep) on the place. |
5. a. A non-member of a society. Now rare.
| ? c 1376 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 76 Also þat no brother no sister ne shalle discuse þe counseil of þis fraternite to no straungere. 1556 Rec. Inverness (New Spald. Club) I. 3 For withhalding of..strangeris nocht to be excepit amangis thame as burges or gild broder. 1576 in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 65 To comyte to prison those two Strangers which do refuse to be sworne to observe..Ordynances of theyre sayde Companye. 1879 H. C. Powell Amateur Athletic Ann. 22 Portal, of Balliol, had little difficulty in taking the first prize in the 300 yds. strangers' handicap [at Corpus sports]. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 607 Brechin Photographic Association... The use of the dark room..is granted to strangers at the nominal charge of 1s. per month. |
b. Parliament. One who is not a member or official of the House, and is present at its debates only on sufferance. So occas. with reference to a court of justice.
I spy strangers: the formula used by a member in demanding the expulsion of strangers from the House.
| 1705 House of Commons Jrnl. 31 Oct. 6/2 Ordered, That the Serjeant at Arms, attending this House, do, from time to time, take into his Custody any Stranger or Strangers, that he shall see, or be informed of to be, in the House, or Gallery, while the House, or any Committee of the Whole House, is sitting. 1795 tr. C. P. Moritz's Trav. 58 The members call aloud to the gallery, withdraw! withdraw! On this the strangers withdraw. 1809 Hansard's Parl. Deb. XIV. 255 The gallery was not re-opened to strangers, and the house shortly afterwards divided on Mr. Canning's Amendment. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Parl. Sk., We will try our fortune at the Strangers' gallery, though the nature of the debate encourages very little hope of success. 1861 Brougham Brit. Const. xix. 322 Each court should have the power of excluding strangers in certain cases. 1886 H. W. Lucy Diary Gladstone Parlt. 120 The galleries over the clock were all full, strangers displaying an undying interest in the proceedings. |
6. A person not of one's kin; more fully, stranger in blood. Also, a person unconnected by ties of friendship or the like. † to put on the stranger: to affect a distant manner.
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxviii. 8, I am become a straunger vnto my brethren, and an aleaunt vnto my mothers children. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas xii. i. (Rtldg.) 423, I came up to pay my devotions; but whim..determined her to put on the stranger, and receive my compliments with so discouraging a coldness, as to throw me into some little confusion. 1860 Hawthorne Transform. xxiii, That Miriam—until yesterday her oldest friend—had a right to be told..that henceforth they must be for ever strangers. |
7. a. One who has no share in (some privilege or business). Const. of, from. ? Obs.
| 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour d vj, We and alle the world were delyuered to the perille of the deth of helle and made straungers of the greete ioye of paradys. c 1535 Nisbet Prol. Rom. Wks. (S.T.S.) III. 323 Heythen quhilkis ar strangers from the lyf of Gode. 1611 Sir J. Digbye Let. 2 Feb. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 559 The French Ambass{supr} here is much dejected that he has been made a mere stranger in this business. |
b. Law. One not privy or party to an act. Const. to. Also, one not standing towards another in some relation implied in the context.
| 1543 tr. Act 1 Rich. III, c. 7 The sayde fyne to be a fynall ende, and to conclude aswell pryueys as straungers to the same. 1642 tr. Perkins' Profit. Bk. x. §691. 298 The feoffees..are strangers unto the lease [AF. ils sont estranges a le lease]. 1765 Blackstone Comm. i. xiv. 418 If a servant..by his negligence does any damage to a stranger, the master shall answer for his neglect. 1766 Ibid. ii. xxi. 356 Strangers to a fine are all other persons in the world, except only parties and privies. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 367 If a feoffment from the cestui que use to a stranger, after he had conveyed the use, would have made the fine undoubtedly good, the like feoffment would [etc.]. 1842 Greenleaf Evid. I. §522. 672 (Funk) It is also a most obvious principle of justice, that no man ought to be bound by proceedings to which he was a stranger. |
† 8. Something alien; something that has no place in (a class, the nature of a thing, a person's character, thoughts, or discourse). Const. to. Obs.
| 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. i. B 4 b, Pish, tis our nature to desire things That are thought strangers to the common cut. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 125, I..Heere abiure The taints, and blames, I laide vpon my selfe, For strangers to my Nature. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour v. ii, The name of envy is a stranger here. a 1653 Binning Sinner's Sanct. v. Wks. (1735) 183 It is no Wonder that we cannot speak any Thing to Purpose of this Subject,..because it is indeed a Mystery to our Judgments, and a great Stranger to our Practice. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. Ded., Those violent Passions which have been always Strangers to so happy a Temper as your Grace is Mistress of. 1715 J. Hughes Spenser's Wks. I. Remarks p. xciv, Before his [Spenser's] time, Musick seems to have been so much a Stranger to our Poetry, that..we have very few Examples of Verses that had any tolerable Cadence. 1722 A. Philips Briton i. v. 10 A Friend accounted long, I felt her Charms, When Yvor was a Stranger to her Thoughts. 1838 T. Mitchell Clouds of Aristoph. 461–2 note, Language derived from the art of war appears to have been no stranger to the mouth of Socrates. |
9. Predicatively, a stranger to ―: Unacquainted with, ignorant of. (Distinct from sense 4.) † a. Unacquainted with (a person, place, book, etc.). Obs.
| 1697 Dryden æneis Ded. (e) 3 b, Long before I undertook this Work, I was no stranger to the Original. 1710 Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 123 There is so much..Beauty in the Classics, that 'tis impossible to translate them so ill, as utterly to deface them, and quite spoil the Entertainment they afford those who are Strangers to them in their Native Tongue. 1721 [T. Thomas] Urry's Chaucer Pref. i 2, As for my self, I was equally a stranger to Mr. Urry and his Undertaking, till some time after his Death. 1776 Cook 2nd Voy. i. iii. I. 67 Fearing to run, in thick weather, into a place to which we were all strangers,..I tacked in twenty-five fathom water. |
† b. Ignorant of (an art, a language, etc.). Obs.
| 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iii. 61 Though one that were a Stranger to the Art of Gardening, would think, that [etc.]. 1688 ― Final Causes i. 28 A great Book, written in some Indian Language, which he is utterly a Stranger to. 1741–2 Challoner Mem. Missionary Priests Pref., We must be utterly strangers to the history of that reign..if we deny that they [tortures] were in use in those times. |
† c. Unaware of (a fact, state of things, something that has happened). Also with clause, to be no stranger, not to be unaware that. Obs.
| 1693–4 Phil. Trans. XVIII. 43 Had any Person, a stranger to what had been done, seen the Stumps, he would have supposed nothing less than an actual Cautery had been applyed. 1731–8 Swift Pol. Conversat. iii. 190 Lady Answ. They say, she's quite a Stranger to all his [sc. her husband's] Gallantries. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 166 The enemy was still a stranger to our having got round Cape Horn. 1763 Museum Rust. I. 327 They are no strangers that new beans will..give a horse the gripes. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xiii, ‘I am no stranger,’ said the Varangian, ‘to the pride of your heart, or the precedence which you assume over those who have been less fortunate in war than yourselves.’ |
d. Having no experience of; unaccustomed to. Said of persons and things.
| 1633 Ford Broken H. iii. iv, I am no stranger to such easie calmes As sit in tender bosomes. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. (1693) 138 There are many that go upon the Road, that rather declare themselves Strangers to Pilgrimage, than Strangers and Pilgrims in the Earth. 1713 Steele Guardian No. 17 ¶8 The Mother assured him that..[her daughter] was a Stranger to Man. 1728 Law Serious C. iii. (1732) 32 A stranger to watchings, fastings, prayers, and mortifications. 1785 J. Phillips Treat. Inland Navig. 28 Seamen are..preferred, for conducting the barges and boats, to people entirely strangers to the water. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 262 They [sc. Polish cavalry] are strangers to all discipline. 1826 Lamb Pop. Fallacies xii, It grew up without the lullaby of nurses, it was a stranger to the patient fondle. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xxvi, This singular dialogue, in which he had assumed a tone to which his daughter was a stranger, and before which she trembled. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. ii. ii, A report..that his lordship was shortly to return to Dale Cottage, set the heart of the Parson's Daughter into a sort of palpitation, to which..it had been a perfect stranger. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle ii, The dirty floor had evidently been as long a stranger to the scrubbing-brush as to carpet or floor-cloth. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 654 He was described as a stranger to dissipation. 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. v. 185 No man..would willingly change a business to which he has been accustomed..for one to which he would be a stranger. |
10. In popular names of animals. a. Labrador. (See quot.)
| 1792 G. Cartwright Jrnl. Labrador I. Gloss. p. xv, Stranger, a water-fowl of the duck kind. |
b. Certain species of moths.
| 1832 J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & Moths 70 The Stranger (Mamestra Aliena,..) appears in June. Ibid. 214 The Stranger Knot-horn (Phycita advenella). 1869 E. Newman Brit. Moths 415 The Stranger (Hadena peregrina). |
c. The Australasian fish, Odax richardsonii.
| 1875 Spectator (Melbourne) 19 June 81/1 Common fish, such as..garfish, Strangers, Silvers, and others. 1891 Australasian (Melbourne) 15 Aug. 320 Melbourne markets. Salmon 5s. to 6s.; stranger 2s. to 4s. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 422. |
† 11. A name for some form of stanza. Obs.
| 13.. R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 86 If it were made in ryme couwee, Or in strangere or enterlacé. |
12. slang. A guinea.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. |
13. attrib., passing into adj. a. That is a stranger (in senses 1–5). Often hyphened.
stranger-guest (cf. guest-friend, guest n. 6): invented by Pope as a rendering of Gr. ξένος; used occas. by other writers for a stranger (sense 1 or 4) who is received as a guest.
| 1421 Coventry Leet Bk. 29 Allso we command that no maner of Straunger vitaler þat bryngithe See fische..to this cite for to sell, that he sell no maner of suche fische..till hit be ix of the cloke. c 1485 Digby Myst. i. 80 + 17 My lord,..ther were iij straunger kynges but late in your presence, that went to bedlem. 1543 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 267 The Straunger seller and the Straunger byer do appoynt to mete at the said faire. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 119 You that did..foote me as you spurne a stranger curre Ouer your threshold, moneyes is your suite. 1607 ― Per. ii. iii. 67 Alas my Father, it befits not mee, Vnto a stranger Knight to be so bold. c 1619 Drummond of Hawthornden Conv. w. B. Jonson (1842) 4 His [Ben Jonson's] judgement of stranger poets was: That he thought not Bartas a Poet, but a Verser... That Guarini [etc.]. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 326 That no Corporation..shall let any house or dwelling place to any stranger Vsuror. a 1653 Binning Common Princ. Chr. Relig. Wks. (1735) 31/2 Thus poor Stranger-Gentiles..come to share with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 248 Besides these are the Stranger Christians, Turks and Jews; the stranger Christians are either Franks or Greeks. 1697 Dryden æneis viii. 165 He said; and downward hasting to the Strand, Embrac'd the Stranger Prince, and join'd his Hand. 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 156 The stranger Guest the royal Youth beheld. Ibid. i. 515, vii. 223, xv. 548. 1767 Jago Edge-hill i. 237 To chear The Stranger-Guest. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xiv, What think'st thou of our stranger guest? 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xc, How many a doubtful day shall sink in night, Ere..Freedom's stranger-tree grow native of the soil! 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 121 Ah! to the stranger-soul, when first it peeps From its new tenement..how stern..a tract is this wide world! 1825 Waterton Wand. S. Amer. iv. i. 287, I saluted him as one stranger gentleman ought to salute another when he wants a little information. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 286 Pardon me, O stranger knight. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 287 Her enchantment is removed..by means of a stranger prince. |
b. Pertaining to a stranger or to strangers; also, situated abroad; foreign.
| 1593 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 98 Salt-ashe..hath anchorage and soylage of all straunger ships. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 99 But she that neuer cop't with straunger eies, Could picke no meaning from their parling lookes. 1593 ― Rich. II, i. iii. 143 You cousin Herford..Shall..tread the stranger pathes of banishment. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 119 The Spaniards will not permit any souldier of a straunger nation to beare office among them. 1598 Marston Met. Pigmalion's Image Reactio 60 Raile..At all Translators that do striue to bring That stranger language to our vulgar tongue. 1671 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 501 Commissions will..be given out for all the stranger troops that are to be raised. 1685 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 402 [She begged him to burn her letters, that] no stranger eye may censure them hereafter. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 502 O Sister! not with causeless Fear possest, No Stranger Voice disturbs thy tender Breast. 1810 Montgomery West Indies ii. 215 Condemn'd..in stranger-isles to bear,..Through life's slow journey, to its dolorous close, Unseen, unwept, unutterable woes. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xiii. 9 Perchance my dog will whine in vain, Till fed by stranger hands. 1837 Hallam Lit. Europe I. i. iv. §25 The north of Italy still endured the warfare of stranger armies. 1880 Ruskin Bible of Amiens i. i. 2 And of these, the fruits of her hands,..she sent also portions to stranger nations. |
c. Not one's own (or its own); alien. rare.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. 75 b, Some delight to be set in trees, and not in the grounde: and when they haue no soyle of their owne, they liue in a stranger [L. cum suam sedem non habeant, in aliena viuunt]. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. ii. ii. 39 Long 'tis till water boild doth stranger heat controul. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies xiii. 13 Life is that stranger land, that alien clime. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cii, The roofs, that heard our earliest cry, Will shelter one of stranger race. |
14. Comb., as stranger-like, stranger-tongued adjs.; stranger-born a., of foreign birth (the first example is doubtful); stranger-wise adv., as a stranger.
| 1473 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 78/2 The which Michell Potter.., *straunger born, not made nor beyng Denizein, late purchased. 1870 Bryant Iliad xvi. 687 The slain, though stranger-born, Had been a pillar of the realm of Troy. |
| 1868 Browning Ring & Bk. vii. 19 A pretty church,..Yet *stranger-like,—while this Lorenzo seems My own particular place, I always say. |
| 1824 Symmons æschylus' Agamem. 112 Bred in strange land, in city *stranger-tongued. |
| 1616 Surflet & Markham Country Farm i. i. 2 Either little, or very *stranger-wise, acquainted with them. a 1894 A. Webster Mother & Dau. (1895) 16 Child, I'd needs love thy beauty strangerwise. |
Hence ˈstrangerdom, ˈstrangerhood, ˈstrangership, the condition or fact of being a stranger.
| 1867 Miss Mulock Fair France i. (1871) 6 The glorious independence of total *strangerdom. |
| 1857 J. Hamilton Less. Gt. Biog. 218 No stiffness, no mien of *strangerhood, to the redeemed of other countries. 1890 H. M. Stanley Darkest Africa I. xi. 293 This began the exchange of friendly intercourse. Strangerhood was broken. |
| 1824 L. M. Hawkins Mem. I. 290 It was her care to put every body at ease; it was her delight to break the barrier of *strangership. 1829 Bentham Justice & Cod. Petit. 188 In a case where..the party..is by strangership, relative indigence, or bad character, disabled from finding any security. 1834 De Quincey Autob. Sk. Wks. 1853 I. 221 His next care was..to withdraw me the stranger from any oppressive feeling of strangership. 1881 Macfarren Counterpoint iii. 8 And the 7th note has an effect of strangership in any key. |
▸ stranger danger n. (also with capital initials) originally used as a catchphrase in various safety campaigns in the United States orig. U.S. the potential danger to children posed by strangers who may approach them, as something to which children should be alert.
| 1966 Washington Post 11 Jan. c8/2 Word your *stranger-danger warning so it includes not only men but also women and teenagers. 1985 Los Angeles Times 31 Mar. i. 32/1 Kids are always taught to look out for the stranger danger, but they are not told about defending themselves against people they know. 2003 M. Haddon Curious Incident of Dog in Night-time 137 When they talked to us about Stranger Danger at school they say that if a man comes up to you..and you feel frightened you should call out and find a lady to run to. |
▪ II. stranger, v.
(ˈstreɪndʒə(r))
[f. stranger n.]
† 1. trans. To make a stranger of; to alienate.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 207 Will you with those infirmities she owes,..Dow'rd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath, Take her or leaue her. |
2. To make strange.
| 1863 W. Lancaster Praeterita 70 Homeless home is strangered with a shade, That moves us weeping from familiar doors. |