alias
alias Lexical Profile
alias Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A false or assumed name used to conceal one's identity or to be known in a different capacity.
"The investigative journalist checked into the hotel under an alias to protect her sources."
An alternative name, label, or shortcut that points to a file, command, email address, or memory location in computing.
"You can create a command-line alias to run complex terminal scripts with a single word."
• adverb
Used to indicate that a named person is also known or more familiar under another specified name.
"Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain, wrote some of the most enduring classics of American literature."
• verb
To assign an alternative name or label to a command, file, or data location (in computing).
"The system administrator aliased the long directory path so developers could access it quickly."
To become indistinguishable from another signal component due to insufficient sampling frequency (in signal processing and computer graphics).
"High-frequency audio signals will alias into lower frequencies if they are not filtered before digital sampling."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Alias' is often confused with 'alibi'; an alias is an assumed or alternative name, whereas an alibi is a claim or piece of evidence proving one was elsewhere when an act took place.
• Rhymes for alias
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Latin 'aliās' meaning 'at another time' or 'otherwise', derived from 'alius' ('other'). It originally entered English through legal documents to introduce an alternative name by which a person was known.