antedates for 'alien' to mean "intelligent extraterrestrial creatures"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006, Geoffrey Nunberg wrote:

> Noun use:
> The Weapon Makers A. E. van Vogt. Exciting story of a man who dared
> pit himself against both the greatest powers of his universe and the
> aliens of outer space. NY Times Display Ad, 3/2/52
>
> Adjectival use:
> In view of our sad inability even to unite mankind, it seems
> extremely unlikely that man in his present state would succeed in
> cooperating with alien races on other planets." Man's Trip to Other
> Planets in Few Decades Predicted, LA Times, 10/11/48

The OED science fiction citation web site indicates that they have noun
cites from 1820 and 1935, and adjectival cites back to 1926.

Fred Shapiro


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