Other forms: estranged, estranging, estranges
To estrange is to turn somebody who was close into a stranger. Estranged from his family, become estranged, an estranged wife.
The passive is far commoner, and estranged is the standard word in family law for a relative no longer in contact. The word says exactly what happens: the person is made a stranger. Latin extraneus, foreign, is behind strange too.
1verbestrangeTo turn somebody who was close into a stranger.
“His constant lies about money slowly estranged him from his brothers.”
estrange is a separating.
Old French estranger means to treat as a stranger, from Latin extraneus, foreign. Strange and stranger are the same root.
Latin
extraneus — foreigner, stranger
Old French
estranger — to treat as a stranger
English, today
estrange
From Old French estranger (“to treat as a stranger”), from Latin extraneus (“foreigner, stranger”) (from which also strange, stranger). Also see Spanish extraño.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA