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

• foreignness noun
• foreignly adverb
• 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

“For I saw among them wonderful works of art, and I marveled at the subtle Ingenia of men in foreign lands.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A small corvette, on the other hand, could be built much more quickly, Clark said, particularly if the Navy works with a foreign shipbuilder.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He is known to have met the Chinese foreign minister at least twice during his time as national security adviser and also hosted a senior member of the Chinese politburo earlier this year.

Read more on BBC

The ad, sponsored by Canada's province of Ontario and released last week, features excerpts of an address Reagan gave in 1987 focusing on foreign trade.

Read more on BBC

“When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

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