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.
Heaths. Defined by their shrub and evergreen appearance, heaths are one of the few plants that survive in the very difficult growing conditions of the alpine tundra. Growing short and unnaturally low to the ground (one of the adaptations the plant has had to make). Heaths thrive in acidic soil.