foreign

[fawr-in, for-]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or derived from another country or nation; not native.

   foreign cars.

2. of or relating to contact or dealings with other countries; connected with foreign affairs.

3. external to one's own country or nation.

   a foreign country.

4. carried on abroad, or with other countries.

   foreign trade.

   Synonyms: international

5. belonging to or coming from another district, province, etc.

6. located outside a specific district, province, etc.

7. Law.

   1. of or relating to law outside of local jurisdiction.

   2. of or relating to another jurisdiction, as of another nation or state.

8. belonging to or proceeding from other persons or things.

   a statement supported by foreign testimony.

9. not belonging to the place or body where found.

   foreign matter in a chemical mixture.

10. not related to or connected with the thing under consideration.

    foreign to our discussion.

11. alien in character; irrelevant or inappropriate; remote.

    Synonyms: outside, extraneous

12. strange or unfamiliar.

foreign

/ ˈfɒrɪn /

adjective

1. of, involving, located in, or coming from another country, area, people, etc

   a foreign resident

2. dealing or concerned with another country, area, people, etc

   a foreign office

3. not pertinent or related

   a matter foreign to the discussion

4. not familiar; strange

5. in an abnormal place or position

   foreign matter

   foreign bodies

6. law outside the jurisdiction of a particular state; alien

Other Word Forms

• foreignly adverb
• foreignness noun
• nonforeign adjective
• nonforeignness noun
• proforeign adjective
• quasi-foreign adjective
• unforeign adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreign¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English forein, from Old French forain, forein, from unattested Vulgar Latin forānus, derivative of Latin forās “outside”

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreign¹

C13: from Old French forain , from Vulgar Latin forānus (unattested) situated on the outside, from Latin foris outside

Example Sentences

"We're talking about chess, literacy, modern foreign languages, sporting clubs, dance clubs."

Read more on BBC

The Financial Times newspaper quotes one of the delegates, though - Ukraine's deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya - who talks of a new 19-point plan with "very little left" from the original draft.

Read more on BBC

But questions have been raised as to whether Cartel de los Soles actually exists and Venezuela's foreign ministry has "categorically, firmly, and absolutely rejected" the designation, which it describes as a "new and ridiculous lie".

Read more on BBC

“This move is extremely dangerous and should put Japan’s neighboring countries and the international community on high alert,” Mao Ning, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, said Monday.

Read more on Barron's

Many growers are turning to the H-2A guest worker program – a legal pipeline for seasonal foreign labor that has quadrupled in size over the past decade.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• alien 
• different 
• external 
• offshore 
• overseas 
• unfamiliar