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REFERENCE

foreign

adj.
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈfɑɹən// UK //fˈɒɹən// for·eign Archaic Dialect General-service Informal Slang

adj. coming from or belonging to a country that is not your own. It can also describe something that feels strange or is not natural to you.

adj. originating from or characteristic of a country other than one's own. In a broader sense, it describes something extraneous or not inherent to the subject under consideration.


SIMPLE

I love learning foreign languages like Spanish and Japanese.

CONTEXTUAL

The company is looking to expand its reach into foreign markets across Southeast Asia next year.

COMPLEX

The witness claimed the concept of corporate loyalty was entirely foreign to the defendant, who had spent his career jumping between rival firms for higher pay.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

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).

Usage

Typically precedes the noun it modifies. When used to mean 'strange', it often takes the preposition 'to'.

Pitfall

a foreigns countrya foreign countryAdjectives in English do not have plural forms, even when describing plural nouns.

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