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.
Starting in the late 90s, the word Heathenism or Heathenry has gradually been accepted as an blanket term for the all the Germanic Neopagan movements, while other terms have developed into labels for specific cultural branches or denominations within Heathenry.