Denization, Denizen

DENIZATION - Eng. Law. The act by which a foreigner becomes a subject of England; but he has not the rights either of a natural born subject, nor of one who has become naturalized.

DENIZEN - An alien born, who has obtained letters patent to make him an English subject.

He is intermediate between a natural born subject and an alien. He may take lands by purchase or devise, which an alien cannot, but he is incapable of taking by inheritance. In the United States there is no such civil condition.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.