Meanings
- historicalslangAn area lying north of London's River Thames, once privileged as a sanctuary and thus known as a refuge for criminals. It spanned from the Whitefriars monastery to the south of the west end of Fleet Street and adjacent to the Temple.
Maggie always appeared in the most amiable light at her aunt Moss’s; it was her Alsatia, where she was out of the reach of law[.]
1860, George Eliot, chapter VIII, in The Mill on the Floss, Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons1 more example
Whitefriars, adjacent to the Temple, then well known by the cant name of Alsatia, had at this time, and for nearly a century afterwards, the privilege of a sanctuary[.]
1822, Sir Walter Scott, chapter XVI, in The Fortunes of Nigel, Edinburgh
Origin
Named for the region of Alsace, a region outside legislative and juridical lines. More at Alsatia.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Alsatia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Alsatia
“Alsatia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Alsatia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Alsatia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Alsatia.
Source: Alsatia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.