foreign
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (4)
- of concern to or concerning the affairs of other nations (other than your own)“foreign trade”“a foreign office”Opposite domesticSimilar external, abroadSee also international
- 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”Synonyms: strangeOpposite nativeSimilar alien, established, foreign-born, adventive, imported, nonnative, tramontane, unnaturalizedRelates to unfamiliarity, foreignnessSee also unfamiliar
- 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”Synonyms: alienOpposite intrinsicSimilar extrinsic
- not belonging to that in which it is contained; introduced from an outside source“water free of extraneous matter”“foreign particles in milk”Synonyms: extraneousOpposite purifyingSimilar adulterating, adulterant
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective originating from or characteristic of a different country
- Spanish
- extranjero
- French
- étranger
- German
- ausländisch
- Italian
- straniero
- Portuguese
- estrangeiro
- Turkish
- yabancı
- Russian
- иностра́нный inostránnyj
- Arabic
- أَجْنَبِيّ ʔajnabiyy
- Dutch
- buitenlands
- Polish
- cudzoziemski
23 more languages
- Swedish
- främmande
- Greek
- ξένος xénos
- Indonesian
- luar negeri
- Vietnamese
- nước ngoài
- Hungarian
- külföldi
- Portuguese (PT)
- estrangeiro
- Catalan
- estranger
- Czech
- zahraniční
- Danish
- udenlandsk
- Esperanto
- eksterlanda
- Estonian
- võõras
- Finnish
- ulkomainen
- Georgian
- უცხოური ucxouri
- Hebrew
- זָר zar
- Icelandic
- erlendur
- Latvian
- svešs
- Norwegian
- utenlandsk
- Romanian
- străin
- Scottish Gaelic
- Gallda
- Serbo-Croatian
- inozemni
- Slovak
- cudzí
- Welsh
- tramor
- Yiddish
- פֿרעמד fremd
Adjective located outside one's own country or place
- Spanish
- extranjero
- French
- étranger
- German
- fremd
- Italian
- straniero
- Portuguese
- estrangeiro
- Turkish
- yabancı
- Russian
- иностра́нный inostránnyj
- Arabic
- أَجْنَبِيّ ʔajnabiyy
- Dutch
- vreemd
- Polish
- cudzoziemski
19 more languages
- Swedish
- främmande
- Greek
- ξένος xénos
- Vietnamese
- nước ngoài
- Hungarian
- külföldi
- Portuguese (PT)
- estrangeiro
- Catalan
- estranger
- Czech
- cizí
- Danish
- fremmed
- Esperanto
- alilanda
- Finnish
- vieras
- Georgian
- უცხოური utskhouri
- Hebrew
- זר zar
- Icelandic
- erlendur
- Latvian
- svešs
- Norwegian
- utenlandsk
- Scottish Gaelic
- coimheach
- Slovak
- cudzí
- Welsh
- tramor
- Yiddish
- פֿרעמד fremd
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.” John 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.” Francis Atterbury
Hail, foreign wonder! Whom certain these rough shades did never breed.— John 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.— Jonathan Swift
4. Held at a distance; excluded; exiled. obsolete
Kept him a foreign man still; which so grieved him, That he ran mad and died.— William Shakespeare
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. James Kent Thomas Edlyne Tomlins John 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, noun, 4. James Kent Joseph Story — Foreign body Medicine, 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.
Synonyms: Outlandish; alien; exotic; remote; distant; extraneous; extrinsic.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54