Foreign

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈfɒɹən/
• GenAm IPA: /ˈfɔɹən/
• Rhymes: -É’rÉ™n, -É’rɪn
• Hyphenation: for + eign

Origin

From Middle English forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin *forānus, 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).

Full definition of foreign

Adjective

1. From a different country.
• 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 2, The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.
• 2013-08-24, Guardian warriors and golden eggs, 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.
2. There are many more foreign students in Europe since the Erasmus scheme started.
3. Belonging to a different culture.
   Eating with chopsticks was a foreign concept to him.
4. Of an object, etc, in a place where it does not belong.
   foreign body
5. (dated) Remote; distant; strange; not belonging; not connected or related.
• Jonathan SwiftThis design is not foreign from some people's thoughts.
6. (obsolete) Held at a distance; excluded; exiled.
• ShakespeareKept him a foreign man still; which so grieved him,
  That he ran mad and died.
7. (US, state legal) From a different one of the states of the United States, as of a state of residence or incorporation.
8. Belonging to a different organization, company etc.
   My bank charges me $2.50 every time I use a foreign ATM.

Synonyms

• (from a different country) overseas, international
• (belonging to a different culture) alien, fremd
• (in a place where it does not belong) extraneous

Antonyms

• (from a different country): domestic
• (belonging to a different culture): native
• (native to an area): indigenous

Derived terms

Noun

1. (informal) foreigner
• 2011, August 30, , White House Extremely Worried About People Saying Dumb Stuff on 9/11, The messaging instructions come in two sets: one for domestics, another for the foreigns.