allophylen.adj.

Etymology: < post-classical Latin allophylus (adjective) foreign, (noun) foreigner, especially with reference to the Philistines (Vetus Latina) < ancient Greek ἀλλόϕυλος of another tribe, foreign, in Hellenistic Greek frequently with reference to the Philistines (Septuagint; in this sense translating Hebrew pĕlištīm , plural noun: see Philistine n. and adj., and compare the former explanation of the name of the Philistines as ‘wanderer, immigrant’ cited at that entry) < ἀλλο- allo- comb. form + ϕυλή phyle n. In sense A. 2 and in the use as adjective after French allophyle (1867 or earlier as adjective in this sense, 1871 (in the passage translated in quot. 1872 at sense A. 2) or earlier as noun in this sense, both in works by A. de Quatrefages de Bréau, in these senses after Allophylian adj. and Allophylian n., respectively; already a1865 in general sense ‘foreigner, alien’).In Old English in form olæphili after the Latin nominative plural. In quot. 1855 at sense A. 1 used to translate Hebrew ḵĕrēṯī ‘Cherethite’, denoting a people of uncertain identity (different from the Philistines) who lived in the coastal region of Palestine (1 Samuel 30:14, etc.). This occurs chiefly in hakkĕrēṯī wĕhappĕlēṯī ‘the Cherethites and the Pelethites’ (2 Samuel 8:18, etc.), denoting a group of elite mercenaries in the service of King David. The second element of the collocation, pĕlēṯī ‘Pelethite’, is an adjective derived from the name of a people of uncertain identity, sometimes identified with the Philistines. N.E.D. (1884) gives the pronunciation as (æ·lofil) /ˈæləʊfɪl/.