Alias - alius

From Awe

Do not confuse the similar sounding words of Latin origin alias and alius.

• alias is a term quite common in legal contexts. It means 'also known by the name of ...', or 'also goes under the name of ...', and refers to the common practice among criminals and other shady characters of operating under a false name.

• alius is an adjective, used as a noun, or substantively. Thew adjective means 'other', and the form, which is masculine singular, makes the substantive '[an] other man'. It is more commonly seen in the plural form, as alii: this appears in academic references in the abbreviation, et al., of the phrase et alii, 'and others' to indicate that a source is accredited to authors other tahn the namked first one.

For a note on plurals, see also alii.