Alien can be a noun and an adjective. In this case, I am using it as an adjective. I am wondering how to express the quality of being alien as a noun (for example, happy expressed as a noun is happiness). Alienness is not a real word apparently, and alien does not work when trying to fit it into this sentence: "Its splendour dissolved into _____", and alienation does not have the same meaning. However, the web says alienness is the correct answer to this question. Who should I trust?
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1" Alienness is not a real word apparently"...according to what authority? Have you checked online dictionaries, for example?– KillingTimeMar 2 at 17:46
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1@KillingTime my english teacher– PlaceReporter99Mar 2 at 17:47
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Also Cambridge Dictionary.– Weather VaneMar 2 at 18:21
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Alien has several meanings and it's not clear what you mean - the state or condition of appearing strange, or otherworldly, or foreign? Otherwise, I think it can be closed as a duplicate.– Stuart FMar 2 at 20:01
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"Alienage" is used (at least in US law) to denote the state of being an alien.– phoog2 days ago
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1 Answer
The Oxford English Dictionary on-line (subscription required) has
alienness, n.
The fact or quality of being alien (in various senses).
Although it cites an example of use in 1655, it states “rare before 19th cent.”
Presumably before the 18th century, other more common words were used to form abstract nouns of the type requested: “foreignness” and “strangeness” are possibilities that are worth considering. A Google ngram search shows “foreignness” to be currently much more common than “alienness”.
