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.
Bourgeoisie means a social class of people who own the means of production, making them in the upper or merchant class. Hence, all employers are bourgeoisie. Their status or power comes from employment, education, assets, or wealth and not from aristocratic (political) origin, as a lowly cafÃ© or factory owner is bourgeoisie. The term is widely used in many non-English speaking countries as an approximate equivalent of middle class.