Foreign Definition

fôrĭn, fŏr-
adjective
Situated outside one's own country, province, locality, etc.
Foreign lands.
Webster's New World
Of, from, or characteristic of another country or countries.
Foreign languages.
Webster's New World
Having to do with the relations of one country to another country or countries.
Foreign affairs, foreign trade.
Webster's New World
Conducted or involved with other nations or governments; not domestic.
Foreign trade.
American Heritage
Not natural; alien.
Jealousy is foreign to her nature.
American Heritage
noun

(informal) Foreigner.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Foreign

Noun

Singular:
foreign
Plural:
foreigns

Origin of Foreign

  • From Middle English forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin *forānus, from Latin forās (“outside, outdoors”), also spelled forīs (“outside, outdoors”). Displaced native Middle English elendish, ellendish (“foreign”) (from Old English elelendisc, compare Old English ellende (“foreign”), elland (“foreign land”)), Middle English eltheodi, eltheodish (“foreign”) (from Old English elþēodiġ, elþēodisc (“foreign”)), and non-native Middle English peregrin (“foreign”) (from Old French peregrin).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English forein from Old French forain from Late Latin forānus on the outside from Latin forās outside dhwer- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to foreign using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

foreign