ajena

Ajena is a Spanish feminine adjective meaning belonging to someone else, or not one's own. It can describe things, people, or concepts that are external or unfamiliar to the speaker. In everyday usage, it often appears in phrases such as propiedad ajena (someone else’s property), intereses ajenos (elsewhere interests), or cosas ajenas (other people’s matters). It can also be used idiomatically with the preposition a to indicate lack of involvement or familiarity, as in estar ajena a algo (to be unaware of or not involved with something) and no ser ajena a un tema (not being unrelated to a topic).

Etymology and related forms: Ajena derives from the masculine ajeno, which in turn comes from the Latin alienus, meaning foreign or unrelated. The pair ajeno/ajena follows standard Spanish gender agreement. Related verbs include ajenar, meaning to estrange or alienate, and the nounajenación (alienation) in some contexts. The term is more common as an adjective than as a noun in ordinary speech, but phrases like lo ajeno (the external or others’ concern) are widely encountered in literature and speech.

Usage notes: Ajena is often paired with nouns to indicate possession by others, as in propiedad ajena, or with abstractions to indicate lack of involvement. It contrasts with propio (“one’s own”) and ajena is frequently used to emphasize distance or difference from the speaker’s perspective. While primarily a Spanish word, it appears in cross-lertilized or translated contexts when referring to “foreign” or “other people’s” matters.

See also: alien, alienation, ajenar, ajeno.