【Stranger】 , 【foreigner】 ,  【alien】 ,  【outlander】 ,  【outsider】 ,  【immigrant】 ,  【émigré】  can all designate a person who comes into a community from the outside and is not recognized as a member of that community.

This is the primary denotation of some of the words, but the secondary sense of the others, especially the last three.  【Stranger】  and  【foreigner】 may both apply to one who comes from another country or sometimes from another section as a resident or visitor.

They have somewhat different implications, however,  【stranger】  stressing the person’s unfamiliarity with the language and customs and  【foreigner】 the fact that he speaks a different language, follows different customs, or bears allegiance to another government.

【Alien】  emphasizes allegiance to another sovereign or government and is often opposed to citizen ; thus, one may be called a  【foreigner】  after naturalization, but not with accuracy an  【alien】  . In extended use  【alien】 can imply either exclusion from full privileges of or inability to identify oneself with a group.

【Outlander】  , in its general sense, is preferred to  【foreigner】  only for a literary or rhetorical reason or because it carries the implications of outlandish .

【Outsider】 usually implies nonmembership in a group, clique, or caste largely because of essential differences in origin, interests, backgrounds, customs, and manners.

【Immigrant】  and  【émigré】  are often used of foreigners who are residents and no longer aliens.

【Immigrant】  usually is applied to a 【foreigner】 who has come voluntarily, typically in search of a better means of earning a living or a more satisfying way of life;  【émigré】 implies that the 【foreigner】 is a fugitive or refugee from his native land or, in a weaker sense, that he has left his abiding place rather from dissatisfaction than from strong hope for a better future.