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.
Heathenism, or the whole Germanic Neopagan movement, is sometimes referred to as Greater Heathenry, implying that it comprehends a variety of differing Heathen movements or branches. These subsets can differ in terms of cultural-ethnic background or doctrinal bases.