Where does “grey alien” come from?
grey alien (English) comes from English alien, from Middle English alien, from Old French alien, from Latin aliēnus, from Latin alius, from Proto-Italic aljos, from Proto-Indo-European h₂élyos, from Proto-Indo-European h₂él- — to grow, nourish.
grey alien (English): An archetypical humanoid alien, usually described as having grey skin, elongated, hairless, sexless features, and a large head with bulbous black eyes; chiefly associated with flying saucers, alien abductions and conspiracy theories relating to cover-ups by the United States government, such as Area
Definitions
- An archetypical humanoid alien, usually described as having grey skin, elongated, hairless, sexless features, and a large head with bulbous black eyes; chiefly associated with flying saucers, alien abductions and conspiracy theories relating to cover-ups by the United States government, such as Area
Ancestry of “grey alien”, step by step
grey alien traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English alien
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | alien | Any life form of extraterrestrial or... |
| 2 | Middle English | alien | An outsider or foreign person, especially one who... |
| 3 | Old French | alien | alien; foreign; non-native; alien |
| 4 | Latin | aliēnus | Of that which belongs to another person, place, or object—of another, alien, foreign |
| 5 | Latin | alius | other, another, any other; else; different |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | aljos | another |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂élyos | other, another |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂él- | to grow, nourish |
via English Grey
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Grey | A member of the Royal Scots Greys, a cavalry... |
| 2 | Middle English | grey | grey, dull, drab; glinting, glistening; grey |
| 3 | Old English | grǣġ | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *grāu | grey |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | grēwaz | grey |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰreh₁- | to become green, grow; to grow; to green, to grow |