foreign
English
Etymology
From Middle English foreyn, forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin *forānus (“outsider, outlander”), from Latin forās (“outside, outdoors”), also spelled forīs (“outside, outdoors”). Displaced native Middle English elendish, ellendish (“foreign”) (from Old English elelendisc, compare Old English ellende (“foreign”), elland (“foreign land”)), Middle English eltheodi, eltheodish (“foreign”) (from Old English elþēodiġ, elþēodisc (“foreign”)), and non-native Middle English peregrin (“foreign”) (from Old French peregrin). The spelling altered perhaps by analogy with sovereign. Cognate with Spanish fuera (“outside”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfɒɹɨn/, /ˈfɒɹən/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfɔɹən/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɒrən, -ɒrɪn
- Hyphenation: for‧eign
Adjective
foreign (comparative more foreign, superlative most foreign)
- Located outside a country or place, especially one's own.
- foreign markets; foreign soil
- He liked visiting foreign cities.
- Originating from, characteristic of, belonging to, or being a citizen of a country or place other than the one under discussion.
- foreign car; foreign word; foreign citizen; foreign trade
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Ayrsham Mystery:
- The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.
- 2013 August 24, “Guardian warriors and golden eggs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8850:
- Foreign companies love to complain about doing business in China. […] Amid such moans it is worth remembering that, for all the barriers that foreign multinationals face in China, it has welcomed them with open arms compared with the protectionism imposed by Japan and South Korea at comparable stages in their economic development.
- There are many more foreign students in Europe since the Erasmus scheme started.
- Relating to a different nation.
- foreign policy; foreign navies
- Not characteristic of or naturally taken in by an organism or system.
- foreign body; foreign substance; foreign gene; foreign species
- (with to, formerly with from) Alien; strange.
- It was completely foreign to their way of thinking.
- (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift
- This design is not foreign from some people's thoughts.
- (obsolete) Held at a distance; excluded; exiled.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- Kept him a foreign man still; which so grieved him, / That he ran mad and died.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- (US, state law) From a different one of the states of the United States, as of a state of residence or incorporation.
- Belonging to a different organization, company etc.
- My bank charges me $2.50 every time I use a foreign ATM.
- (obsolete) Outside, outdoors, outdoor.
Synonyms
- (from a different country): overseas, international
- (strange): alien, fremd
- (in a place where it does not belong): extraneous
Antonyms
- (from a different country): domestic
- (not characteristic): native
- (native to an area): indigenous
Derived terms
- chamber foreign
- foreign body
- foreign correspondent
- foreign country
- foreigncy
- foreign debt
- foreigner
- foreign exchange
- foreignization
- foreignize
- foreign key
- foreignness
- Foreign Office
- foreign policy
- foreign tongue
Translations
located outside one's own country or place
|
|
originating from or characteristic of a different country
|
|
relating to a different nation
|
not characteristic of or naturally taken in by an organism or system
alien, strange
US: from a different state
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked: "belonging to a different culture"
|
|
Noun
foreign (plural foreigns)
- A foreign person, particularly:
- (now informal) A foreigner: a person from another country.
- 2011 August 30, "White House Extremely Worried About People Saying Dumb Stuff on 9/11" in Gawker:
- The messaging instructions come in two sets: one for domestics, another for the foreigns.
- 2011 August 30, "White House Extremely Worried About People Saying Dumb Stuff on 9/11" in Gawker:
- (obsolete) An outsider: a person from another place or group.
- (obsolete) A non-guildmember.
- (now informal) A foreigner: a person from another country.
- (obsolete) A foreign ship.
- (obsolete) Clipping of chamber foreign: an outhouse.
- A foreign area, particularly:
- Short for various phrases, including foreign language, foreign parts, and foreign service.
Synonyms
- (outhouse): chamber foreign; see also Thesaurus:bathroom
Translations
foreigner — see foreigner
References
- "foreign, adj. and n." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1897), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Anagrams
This article is issued from
Wiktionary.
The text is licensed under Creative
Commons - Attribution - Sharealike.
Additional terms may apply for the media files.