I. a ‧ li ‧ as 1 /ˈeɪliəs/ BrE AmE preposition
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: 'otherwise' ]
used when giving someone’s real name, especially an actor’s or a criminal’s name, together with another name they use:
‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston, alias Rachel Green
II. alias 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a false name, usually used by a criminal:
a spy operating under the alias Barsad
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THESAURUS
▪ first name ( also given name especially American English formal ) the name chosen for you by your parents:
People usually call each other by their first name.
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Please write your given name and your date of birth.
▪ Christian name old-fashioned first name:
His Christian name was Joseph.
▪ last name/family name/surname the name that you share with your family or husband. Most English speakers would say last name . Surname sounds slightly formal:
Can I have your last name?
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Johnson is a common English family name.
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At school they used to call each other by their surnames.
▪ middle name the name between your first and last names:
Harry Potter’s middle name is James.
▪ full name your first name, middle name, and last name:
I need your full name and address.
▪ maiden name a woman’s family name before she married and began using her husband’s name:
My mother’s maiden name was Higgins.
▪ married name a woman’s family name after she gets married, if she uses her husband’s name:
I don’t know what her married name is.
▪ nickname a name that people call you because of your appearance, personality etc, which is not your real name:
At school he was given the nickname ‘Shorty’.
▪ stage name the name that an actor uses which is not their real name:
She began acting in her childhood under the stage name Marjorie Moore.
▪ pen name ( also pseudonym formal ) a name that a writer uses which is not their real name:
Mark Twain was his pen name. His real name was Samuel Clemens.
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She wrote under the pseudonym of George Eliot.
▪ under an assumed name using a false name in order to hide your real name:
He had rented the car under an assumed name.
▪ alias /ˈeɪliəs/ a false name, especially one used by a criminal:
He uses a number of aliases.
▪ appellation formal a name which describes something – a very formal use:
This fine city justifies its appellation ‘the Pearl of the Orient’.
▪ sobriquet formal a nickname – a very formal use:
Jackson gained the sobriquet ‘Stonewall’ at the Battle of Bull Run.