alienation

[eyl-yuh-ney-shuh n, ey-lee-uh-] /ˌeɪl yəˈneɪ ʃən, ˌeɪ li ə-/
noun
1.
the act of alienating.
2.
the state of being alienated.
3.
Law. a transfer of the title to property by one person to another; conveyance.
4.
the state of being withdrawn or isolated from the objective world, as through indifference or disaffection.
5.
Statistics. the lack of correlation in the variation of two measurable variates over a population.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English < Latin aliēnātiōn- (stem of aliēnātiō), equivalent to aliēnāt(us) (see alienate) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
alienative, adjective
nonalienation, noun
realienation, noun
Examples from the web for alienation
  • The one-time promoter of flash mobs is once again waging battle against digital alienation.
  • There is only one way left to escape the alienation of present day society: to retreat ahead of it.
  • At 49, she impulsively returns on a visit and slowly reveals the root of her alienation.
  • The result is an impressive novel of outsiders whose feelings of alienation are more natural than supernatural.
  • Keeping the print version would help slow the alienation of customers that want to keep their print version.
  • For rhinos, the answer to alienation and anxiety is food.
  • She recounts grade school alienation and the enthusiastic college roommate who taught her Americanisms.
  • But despite the years of alienation, the bond between mother and child survives.
  • Set in Santiago, in 1980, it's an evocative tale of adolescent alienation and the psychic price of dictatorship.
  • There's the feeling of alienation, of being outcast and bullied.
British Dictionary definitions for alienation

alienation

/ˌeɪljəˈneɪʃən; ˌeɪlɪə-/
noun
1.
a turning away; estrangement
2.
the state of being an outsider or the feeling of being isolated, as from society
3.
(psychiatry) a state in which a person's feelings are inhibited so that eventually both the self and the external world seem unreal
4.
(law)
  1. the transfer of property, as by conveyance or will, into the ownership of another
  2. the right of an owner to dispose of his property
Word Origin and History for alienation
n.

"transfer of ownership," late 14c., from Old French alienacion and directly from Latin alienationem (nominative alienatio) "a transfer, surrender," noun of action from past participle stem of alienare (see alienate). It also meant "loss or derangement of mental faculties, insanity" (late 15c.), hence alienist. Phrase alienation of affection as a U.S. legal term in divorce cases for "falling in love with someone else" dates to 1861.

alienation in Medicine

alienation al·ien·a·tion (āl'yə-nā'shən, ā'lē-ə-)
n.
A state of estrangement between the self and the objective world or between different parts of the personality.

alienation in Culture
alienation [(ay-lee-uh-nay-shuhn)]

A feeling of separation or isolation. In social science, alienation is associated with the problems caused by rapid social change, such as industrialization and urbanization (see Industrial Revolution), which has broken down traditional relationships among individuals and groups and the goods and services they produce.

Note: Alienation is most often associated with minorities, the poor, the unemployed, and other groups who have limited power to bring about changes in society.
Note: Marxism holds that workers in capitalist nations are alienated because they have no claim to ownership of the products they make.