foreign
/ˈfɔɹɪn/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.08 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Originating from, characteristic of, belonging to, or being a citizen of a country or place other than the one under discussion.
adj
Not characteristic of or naturally taken in by an organism or system.
adj
adj
From a different legal jurisdiction (state, province), even if within the same country.
Canadian usage; American usage
adj
Belonging to a different organization, company etc.
Example Sentences
- "foreign markets; foreign soil"
- "He liked visiting foreign cities."
- "foreign car; foreign word; foreign citizen; foreign trade"
- "There are many more foreign students in Europe since the Erasmus scheme started."
- "The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked."
- "Foreign companies love to complain about doing business in China.[…]Amid such moans it is worth remembering that, for all the barriers that foreign multinationals face in China, it has welcomed them with open arms compared with the protectionism imposed by Japan and South Korea at comparable stages in their economic development."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *dʰworéh₂ Proto-Italic *þworā Proto-Italic *fworā Proto-Italic *forā Latin *fora Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂der. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ns Proto-Italic *-ans Latin -ās Latin forās Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dʰwṓr Proto-Italic *θworeis < *θworis Latin forīs < foris ▲ Latin -ānus Vulgar Latin *forānus Old French forainbor. ▲ Middle English ferinflu. Middle English foreyn ▲ English reigninflu.? English foreign From Middle English foreyn, forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin *forānus (“outsider, outlander”), from Latin forās (“outside, outdoors”) or forīs (“outside, outdoors”). Displaced native Old English elþēodiġ (“foreign”) and now-dialectal English fremd, from Old English fremde (“strange, foreign”). The silent -g- added perhaps by analogy with reign (compare also sovereign which was similarly altered).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɔɹɪn/
- British English: /ˈfɒɹɪn/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more foreign (comparative)
most foreign (superlative)
forane (alternative, obsolete)
forraine (alternative, obsolete)
foreigns (plural)