FOREIGN

foreign, strange

(adjective) relating to or originating in or characteristic of another place or part of the world; “foreign nations”; “a foreign accent”; “on business in a foreign city”

foreign

(adjective) of concern to or concerning the affairs of other nations (other than your own); “foreign trade”; “a foreign office”

alien, foreign

(adjective) not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something; “an economic theory alien to the spirit of capitalism”; “the mysticism so foreign to the French mind and temper”; “jealousy is foreign to her nature”

extraneous, foreign

(adjective) not belonging to that in which it is contained; introduced from an outside source; “water free of extraneous matter”; “foreign particles in milk”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

foreign (comparative more foreign, superlative most foreign)

Located outside a country or place, especially one's own.

Originating from, characteristic of, belonging to, or being a citizen of a country or place other than the one under discussion.

Relating to a different nation.

Not characteristic of or naturally taken in by an organism or system.

(with to, formerly with from) Alien; strange.

(obsolete) Held at a distance; excluded; exiled.

(US, state legal) 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.

(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

Noun

foreign (plural foreigns)

A foreign person, particularly:

(now informal) A foreigner: a person from another country.

(obsolete) An outsider: a person from another place or group.

(obsolete) A non-guildmember.

(obsolete) A foreign ship.

(obsolete) Clipping of chamber foreign: an outhouse.

A foreign area, particularly

(now dialect) An area of a community that lies outside the legal town or parish limits.

(obsolete, usually, in the plural) An area of a monastery outside its legal limits or serving as an outer court.

Short for various phrases, including foreign language, foreign parts, and foreign service.

Synonyms

• (outhouse): chamber foreign; see also bathroom

Anagrams

• Rengifo

Source: Wiktionary


For"eign, a. Etym: [OE. forein, F. forain, LL. foraneus, fr. L. foras, foris, out of doors, abroad, without; akin to fores doors, and E. door. See Door, and cf. Foreclose, Forfeit, Forest, Forum.]

1. Outside; extraneous; separated; alien; as, a foreign country; a foreign government. "Foreign worlds." Milton.

2. Not native or belonging to a certain country; born in or belonging to another country, nation, sovereignty, or locality; as, a foreign language; foreign fruits. "Domestic and foreign writers." Atterbury. Hail, foreign wonder! Whom certain these rough shades did never breed. Milton.

3. Remote; distant; strange; not belonging; not connected; not pertaining or pertient; not appropriate; not harmonious; not agreeable; not congenial; -- with to or from; as, foreign to the purpose; foreign to one's nature. This design is not foreign from some people's thoughts. Swift.

4. Held at a distance; excluded; exiled. [Obs.] Kept him a foreign man still; which so grieved him, That he ran mad and died. Shak. Foreign attachment (Law), a process by which the property of a foreign or absent debtor is attached for the satisfaction of a debt due from him to the plaintiff; an attachment of the goods, effects, or credits of a debtor in the hands of a third person; -- called in some States trustee, in others factorizing, and in others garnishee process. Kent. Tomlins. Cowell.

– Foreign bill, a bill drawn in one country, and payable in another, as distinguished from an inland bill, which is one drawn and payable in the same country. In this latter, as well as in several other points of view, the different States of the United States are foreign to each other. See Exchange, n., 4. Kent. Story.

– Foreign body (Med.), a substance occurring in any part of the body where it does not belong, and usually introduced from without.

– Foreign office, that department of the government of Great Britain which has charge British interests in foreign countries.

Syn.

– Outlandish; alien; exotic; remote; distant; extraneous; extrinsic.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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