Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A female given name popular in England since the Middle Ages.
  • proper noun cryptography, physics In various fields such as cryptography and physics, a conventional name for the person or system that sends a message to another person or system conventionally known as Bob.
  • proper noun Australia, slang Alice Springs, Australia.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French and English contraction of Old High German Adalheidis; from adal "noble" + heid "sort, kind".

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Alice.

Examples

  • And in the Tim Burton “ALICE IN WONDERLAND,” Alice is trying to name who she is without using the process of elimination in a similar way.

    New Photo and Interview: Anne Hathaway in Alice in Wonderland | /Film 2010

  • Anyway, do check out inanimate alice, an online serial children's/YA story told with interactive media Alice ages a bit each episode, and she'll end at age 20.

    Archive 2007-01-01 a. fortis 2007

  • FORT HARE, ALICE (ECN 8. 40pm Friday 17 July 1998) - A culture of leadership battles had taken hold of the ANC, the ruling party's secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe said in his address to a 300 - strong ANC East Cape delegation at Fort Hare campus in Alice last night. (subs: Friday night) He said:

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1998

  • He glanced over the characters; he had once or twice seen Lady Vargrave's handwriting before, and had recognized no likeness between that handwriting and such early specimens of Alice's art as he had witnessed so many years ago; but now, "trifles light as air" had grown "confirmation strong as proof of Holy Writ," -- he thought he detected Alice in every line of the hurried and blotted scroll; and when his eye rested on the words, "Your affectionate MOTHER, _Alice_!" his blood curdled in his veins.

    Alice, or the Mysteries — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • On one of these mornings, as he dictated the scene where Flora was discovered having left her bed, her governess believing that she had lied when she stated that she had seen nothing, he found that he was about to use the name Alice in place of Flora.

    The Master Colm Tóibín 2004

  • At a party to celebrate the first birthday of her label Alice by Temperley, her mother, Di, says: I would love for her to design the dress as she is a true British designer.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2010

  • For metaphor fans, in the background the East Coast is being hit by a storm named Alice, the Greek word for truth.

    Readthehook.com - Current Articles 2009

  • More's the pity that his Alice is as vapid as a Cosmopolitan cover girl, and that this particular trip down the rabbit hole is less engaging than the (very engaging) levels in the game Bioshock.

    MOVIE REVIEW: Alice in Wonderland (2010) 2010

  • They, or some of them, were bestowed in Alice's desk; and whenever Ellen had a spare hour or two, of a fine morning or afternoon, she made the best of her way to the mountain; it made no difference whether Alice were at home or not; she went in, coaxed up the fire, and began her work.

    The Wide, Wide World 1892

  • "Alice" is much simpler in composition, but the contrasting colors and distinctive character communicate much more quickly the nature of the film it's advertising.

    Movie Poster Smackdown! 'Alice in Wonderland' vs. 'Battleship Yamato' vs. 'Wolfman' 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "3. In various fields such as cryptography and physics, a conventional name for the person or system that sends a message to another person or system conventionally known as Bob."

    --Wiktionary

    September 7, 2010

  • patron saint of psychedelic fearlessness

    March 7, 2021