2. Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange. See Synonyms at foreign. 3. Dissimilar, inconsistent, or opposed, as in nature: emotions alien to her temperament.
n, pl -thens or -then. 1. (Alternative Belief Systems) a person who does not acknowledge the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; pagan. 2. an uncivilized or barbaric person. 3. (Alternative Belief Systems) the heathen (functioning as plural) heathens collectively.
Answer: The word heathen is an older translation of the Hebrew word goyim in the Old Testament. The word goyim literally meant nations and could refer broadly to all the nations of the world. In other contexts, the word was used to distinguish other nations from Israel, the people of God (Joshua 23:7; 1 Kings 11:2).