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foreign Definition

for·eign (fôr′in, fär′-)

adjective

  1. situated outside one's own country, province, locality, etc. foreign lands
  2. of, from, or characteristic of another country or countries foreign languages
  3. having to do with the relations of one country to another country or countries foreign affairs, foreign trade
  4. not subject to the laws or jurisdiction of the specified country
    1. not natural to the person or thing specified; not belonging; not characteristic a trait foreign to one's nature
    2. not pertinent; irrelevant
  6. not organically belonging; introduced from outside: said of substances found in parts of the body or in organisms where they do not naturally occur

Etymology: ME forein < OFr forein, forain < LL foranus, foreign, orig., external < L foras, out-of-doors, orig. acc. pl. of OL fora, door

foreign Related Forms
for′·eign·ness noun
foreign Synonyms

foreign

modif.

  1. Concerning a country, idea, or way of life not one's own

    remote, exotic, strange, alien, far, distant, inaccessible, unaccustomed, different, unknown, unfamiliar, extrinsic, extraneous, external, outside, expatriate, exiled, from abroad, not native, not domestic, international, nonnative, nonresident, alienated, estranged, antipodal, faraway, far-off, hyperborean, beyond the rainbow, unexplored, transoceanic, transmarine, ultramontane, at the far corners of the earth, at the uttermost end of the earth, extralocal, beyond the pale, outlandish, picturesque, colorful.

    Antonyms local*, national, indigenous.

  2. Coming from a country not one's own

    alien, imported, borrowed, nonnative, immigrant, barbarian, barbaric, adopted, coming from another land, not domestic; see also sense 1.

    Antonyms native*, domestic, aboriginal.

  3. Organically or essentially different

    heterogeneous, unassimilable, unrelated, extraneous; see irrelevant, unsuitable.

foreign implies that the external object is organically so different that it cannot become assimilated a foreign substance in the blood; alien emphasizes the incompatibility of the external object with the subject in question such anger seems alien to his nature; extrinsic refers to that which, coming from outside a thing, is not inherent in its real nature the souvenir had great extrinsic value for him; extraneous, often synonymous with extrinsic, may connote the possibility of integration of the external object into the thing to which it is added extraneous grace notes

foreign Law Definition

adj

Relating to another country or jurisdiction.
foreign Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • currency: Over £ 100 million of foreign currency is currently lying around in UK homes.
  • language: Teaching history in a foreign language: what language?
  • minister: Geoffrey Howe, Britain's foreign minister, was explicit.
  • policy: We often look on the United States in very negative ways due to their foreign policy.
  • investor: Moreover, foreign investors have been more cautious about jumping into the Polish market recently.
  • investment: Cuba: Limiting foreign investment of joint enterprises to 49 per cent.

Modifying Another Word

  • totally: This technology is totally foreign to the agricultural trade.
  • entirely: Eventually some people could feel that the world is communicating in an entirely foreign medium.
  • completely: Rather than being completely foreign and exotic, it belongs to the Mediterranean cultural area, common to all heirs of the Greek legacy.
  • then: My noble Friend accompanied the then Foreign Secretary ( Mr.
  • very: This idea is very foreign to us in our society and yet it is basic to our understanding of Scripture.
  • not: Im not foreign either so dont bring ethnics into it smartass.

Used with adjective complement

  • sell: Is it legal to sell foreign Coca-Cola in the UK?
foreign Quotes

I am not going to spend any time whatsoever attacking the Foreign Secretary.Quite honestly, I am beginning to feel extremely sorry for him. If we complain about the tune, there is no reason to attack the monkey when the organ grinder is present.

—Bevan, Aneurin

And they praised him to his face with their courtly foreign grace; But he rose upon their decks, and he cried: 'I have fought for Queen and Faith like a valiant man and true; I have only done my dutyas a man is bound to do: With a joyful spirit I Sir Richard Grenville die!' And he fell upon their decks, and he died.

—Tennyson

The government may tomorrow withdraw every one of their troopsfrom Ireland.Ireland will be defended by her armed sons from foreign invasion, and for that purpose the armed Catholics in the south will be only too glad to join arms with the armed Protestant Ulsterman. Is it too muchtohope that out of thissituation a result mayspring that will be good not merely for the Empire but for the future welfare and integrity of the Irish nation?

—Redmond,John Edward

I don't believe I'll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn't go to Harvard.

—Johnson, Lyndon B(aines) also called LBJ

Insurrectionöby means of guerrilla bandsöis the true method of warfare for all nations desirous of emancipating themselves from a foreign yoke.

—Mazzini, Giuseppe

If you carry this resolution, you will send a Foreign Secretaryöwhoever he may beönaked into the conference chamber.You call that statesmanship. I call it an emotional spasm.

—Bevan, Aneurin

If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreigntroopwaslanded inmycountry,Inever would lay down my armsöneveröneverönever!

—Pitt,William, 1st Earl of Chatham known as  the Elder

I believe that the BBC, in spite of the stupidity of its foreign propaganda and the unbearable voices of its announcers, is very truthful. It isgenerally regarded here as more reliable than the press.

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair

He not only knew a lot about foreign affairs, he was a foreign affair.

—Reston,James B(arrett)

All of life is a foreign country.

—Kerouac,Jack (John)

Who can tell without instruction what is likely to be the effect of thenew loans of England toforeignnations? We press upon half-finished and half-civilized communities incalculable sums; we are to them what the London money-dealers are to students at Oxford and Cambridge.

—Bagehot,Walter

No foreign policy, no matter how ingenious, has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a fewand carried in the heart of none.

—Kissinger, HenryAlfred

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

—Hartley, L(eslie) P(oles)

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.

—Washington, BookerTaliaferro

I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again:Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.

—Roosevelt, Franklin D(elano)

I don't object to foreigners speaking a foreign language; I just wish they'd all speak the same foreign language.

—Wilder, Billy (Samuel)

Johnny, keep it out of focus. I want to win the foreign picture award.

—Wilder, Billy (Samuel)

She has been beastly to the Bank of England, has demanded that the BBC'set its house in order'and tends to believe the worst of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She cannot see an institution without hitting it with her handbag.

—Critchley, SirJulian Michael Gordon