Denizenship

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state or condition of being a resident within a particular community or environment
2. the quality of being a recognized inhabitant of a certain place
3. the status of belonging to a specific group or society through residency or participation

Etymology: Denizenship is a plain compound: the noun "denizen" with the suffix "-ship," which marks a state, condition or quality. The base word "denizen" is itself a borrowing from Anglo-French "denizein," meaning a person admitted to the rights of a native, so the word has always carried a sense of formal admission rather than simple residence. That legal flavour is what the suffix builds on. A denizen was someone who had been granted the standing of a native subject of the realm, and denizenship names the quality of holding that recognized position. The word therefore describes less a person's physical presence in a place than the status that the community acknowledges as belonging there.

Synonyms: residency, inhabitation, dwelling, occupation, settlement

Antonyms: alienage, foreignness, statelessness