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foreign - 7 dictionary results

for⋅eign

[fawr-in, for-]

Use foreign in a Sentence

–adjective

1.	of, pertaining to, or derived from another country or nation; not native: foreign cars.

2.	of or pertaining to contact or dealings with other countries; connected with foreign affairs.

3.	external to one's own country or nation: a foreign country.

4.	carried on abroad, or with other countries: foreign trade.

5.	belonging to or coming from another district, province, etc.

6.	located outside a specific district, province, etc.

Law.

a.	of or pertaining to law outside of local jurisdiction.

b.	of or pertaining to another jurisdiction, as of another nation or state.

8.	belonging to or proceeding from other persons or things: a statement supported by foreign testimony.

9.	not belonging to the place or body where found: foreign matter in a chemical mixture.

10.	not related to or connected with the thing under consideration: foreign to our discussion.

11.	alien in character; irrelevant or inappropriate; remote.

12.	strange or unfamiliar.

Origin:
1200–50; ME forein < OF forain, forein < VL *forānus, deriv. of L forās outside

Related forms:

for⋅eign⋅ly, adverb

for⋅eign⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1, 3. alien. 4. international. 11. extraneous, outside.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To foreign

for·eign (fôr'ĭn, fŏr'-)

adj.

Located away from one's native country: on business in a foreign city.
Of, characteristic of, or from a place or country other than the one being considered: a foreign custom.
Conducted or involved with other nations or governments; not domestic: foreign trade.
Situated in an abnormal or improper place in the body and typically introduced from outside: a foreign object in the eye.
Not natural; alien: Jealousy is foreign to her nature.
Not germane; irrelevant.
Subject to the jurisdiction of another political unit.

[Middle English forein, from Old French forain, from Late Latin forānus, on the outside, from Latin forās, outside; see dhwer- in Indo-European roots.]
for'eign·ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean of, from, or characteristic of another place or part of the world: a foreign accent; alien customs; exotic birds; moved to a strange city.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Foreign

For"eign\, a. [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.

Language Translation for : foreign

Spanish: extranjero,

German: ausländisch,

Japanese: 外国の

More Translations »

foreign

1297, ferren, foreyne "out of doors," from O.Fr. forain, from L.L. foranus "on the outside, exterior," from L. foris "outside," lit. "out of doors," related to fores "door;" spelling altered 17c. perhaps by influence of reign, sovereign. Replaced native fremd. Sense of "not in one's own land" is first attested 1393.

Foreign

1. A non-U.S. company with securities trading on the North American market.

2. In general, any corporation organized under the laws of another country.

Investopedia Commentary

1. From an American's perspective, foreign means pretty much everything outside the United States.

2. Sometimes foreign corporations are called alien corporations.