denizen

UK: /ˈdɛnɪzən/ US: /ˈdɛnəzən/ ,(den′ə zən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

den•i•zen /ˈdɛnəzən/   n. [countable]

1. an inhabitant;
   resident:
   the denizens of the inner cities.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

den•i•zen  (den′ə zən), n. 

1. an inhabitant;
   resident.
2. a person who regularly frequents a place;
   habitué:
   the denizens of a local bar.
3. Government [Brit.] an alien admitted to residence and to certain rights of citizenship in a country.
4. anything adapted to a new place, condition, etc., as an animal or plant not indigenous to a place but successfully naturalized.

v.t. 

5. to make a denizen of.

• Anglo-French, equivalent. to deinz within (Old French; see dedans) + -ein -an
• late Middle English denisein 1425–75

den′i•za′tion, den′i•zen•a′tion, n. 
den′i•zen•ship′, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

denizen / ˈdɛnɪzən/ noun

1. an inhabitant; occupant; resident
2. an individual permanently resident in a foreign country where he or she enjoys certain rights of citizenship
3. a plant or animal established in a place to which it is not native
4. a naturalized foreign word

Etymology: 15th Century: from Anglo-French denisein, from Old French denzein, from denz within, from Latin de intus from within