English Explanatory Dictionary

foreign

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Located outside a country or place, especially one's own.
  2. Originating from, characteristic of, belonging to, or being a citizen of a country or place other than the one under discussion.
  3. Relating to a different nation.
  4. Not characteristic of or naturally taken in by an organism or system.
  5. Alien; strange; uncharacteristic.
  6. Held at a distance; excluded; exiled.
  7. From a different legal jurisdiction (state, province), even if within the same country.
  8. Belonging to a different organization, company etc.
  9. Outside, outdoors, outdoor.
noun
  1. A foreign person
  2. A foreigner: a person from another country.
  3. An outsider: a person from another place or group.
  4. A non-guildmember.
  5. A foreign vehicle
  6. A foreign ship.
  7. A foreign whip, a car produced abroad.
  8. An outhouse; an outdoor toilet.
  9. A foreign area
  10. An area of a community that lies outside the legal town or parish limits.
  11. An area of a monastery outside its legal limits or serving as an outer court.
  12. Short for various phrases, including foreign language, foreign parts, and foreign service.

Pronunciation

/ˈfɒɹɪn/ /ˈfɒɹən/ En-uk-foreign.ogg /ˈfɔɹɪn/ /ˈfɔɹən/ /ˈfɑɹɪn/ En-us-foreign.ogg /ˈfɔrɪn/ /ˈfɑrɪn/ /-ɛ(j)n/

Word forms

foreign more foreign most foreign forane forraine foreigns

Etymology

From Middle English foreyn, forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin *forānus (“outsider, outlander”), from Latin forās (“outside, outdoors”) or forīs (“outside, outdoors”). Displaced native Old English elþēodiġ (“foreign”) and now-dialectal English fremd, from Old English fremde (“strange, foreign”). The silent -g- added perhaps by analogy with reign (compare also sovereign which was similarly altered).

Synonyms

overseas international extraneous acquired additional adventitious ascititious foreign intrusive outlandish strange supplemental tramontane alien fremd backhouse backside bog boggard boghouse carsey chamber foreign common house commons Cousin John craphouse danna draught draught-house dunnekin dunny earth closet gang gingerbread office gong gonghouse House of Commons house of ease house of easement house of office issue jacques jakes jakeshouse johnny house karzy khazi kocay little house long drop longhouse necessary necessary house necessary place necessary vault neddy netty outhouse passage house petty

Antonyms

domestic native indigenous innate natural

Derived words

antiforeign chamber foreign doctrine of foreign equivalents foreign accent syndrome foreign affairs foreign agent foreign aid foreign body foreign-born foreign correspondent foreign country foreign currency foreigncy foreign debt foreign devil foreign direct investment foreigner foreign exchange foreign exchange certificate foreign exchange market foreign exchange risk foreign fighter foreign investment foreignise foreignism foreignization foreignize foreign key foreign language foreign legion foreignly foreign minister foreign money foreign muck foreign national foreignness Foreign Office foreign policy foreign portfolio investment foreign secretary foreign service foreign species foreign tongue foreign trade forex hyperforeign nonforeign semiforeign unforeign
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