Origins of the word foreign

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• forane, forraine (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English foreyn, forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin *forānus (“outsider, outlander”), from Latin forās (“outside, outdoors”), also spelled 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).

Pronunciation[edit]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɒɹɪn/, /ˈfɒɹən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹɪn/, /ˈfɔɹən/, /ˈfɑɹɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹən, -ɒɹɪn
• Hyphenation: for‧eign

Adjective[edit]

foreign (comparative more foreign, superlative most foreign)

1. Located outside a country or place, especially one’s own.

   foreign markets; foreign soil

   He liked visiting foreign cities.

2. Originating from, characteristic of, belonging to, or being a citizen of a country or place other than the one under discussion.

   foreign car; foreign word; foreign citizen; foreign trade

   • 2013 August 24, “Guardian warriors and golden eggs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8850:

     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.

   There are many more foreign students in Europe since the Erasmus scheme started.

3. Relating to a different nation.

   foreign policy; foreign navies

4. Not characteristic of or naturally taken in by an organism or system.

   foreign body;foreign substance;foreign gene;foreign species

5. (with to, formerly with from) Alien; strange.

   It was completely foreign to their way of thinking.

   • 1708 December 15 (Gregorian calendar; date written), [Jonathan Swift], A Letter from a Member of the House of Commons in Ireland to a Member of the House of Commons in England, Concerning the Sacramental Test, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 14:

     [T]his deſign is not ſo foreign from ſome Peoples Thoughts, […]

   • 1962 August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, page 133:

     Only when one has seen a Control Office at first-hand does one realise the vast amount of unsparing but largely unsung work that is behind the eventual publication, perhaps, of a paragraph in this journal’s «Motive Power Miscellany» recording the appearance, within hours of the complete blockage of a main line, of many of its trains, passenger and freight, on routes quite foreign to them; and of effective emergency services either side of the disaster area.

6. (obsolete) Held at a distance; excluded; exiled.

   • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     Kept him a foreign man still; which so grieved him, / That he ran mad and died.

7. (US, state law) From a different one of the states of the United States, as of a state of residence or incorporation.
8. Belonging to a different organization, company etc.

   My bank charges me $2.50 every time I use a foreign ATM.

9. (obsolete) Outside, outdoors, outdoor.

Synonyms[edit]

• (from a different country): overseas, international
• (strange): alien, fremd
• (in a place where it does not belong): extraneous

Antonyms[edit]

• (from a different country): domestic
• (not characteristic): native
• (native to an area): indigenous

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

foreign (plural foreigns)

1. A foreign person, particularly:
   1. (now informal) A foreigner: a person from another country.
      • 2011 August 30, «White House Extremely Worried About People Saying Dumb Stuff on 9/11» in Gawker:

        The messaging instructions come in two sets: one for domestics, another for the foreigns.

   2. (obsolete) An outsider: a person from another place or group.
   3. (obsolete) A non-guildmember.
2. A foreign vehicle, particularly:
   1. (obsolete) A foreign ship.
   2. (slang) A foreign whip, a car produced abroad.

      • 2019 August 28, Yb Tak30ver (lyrics and music), “Island”‎^[2], 1:16 :

        In the foreign switching lanes and we riding
        […]
        A island I wanna live somewhere silent
        I’m shining I’m bout to flood my neck with diamonds
        Yeah I’ve been spitting facts these niggas lying
        I’m driving stolens, foreigns, yeah I’m riding

3. (obsolete) Clipping of chamber foreign: an outhouse.
   • 1303, Richard Mannyng, Handlyng Synne, l. 7436 f.:

     Ful foule ys þat forreyne
     Þat ys comoun for al certeyne.

4. A foreign area, particularly:
   1. (now dialect) An area of a community that lies outside the legal town or parish limits.
   2. (obsolete, usually in the plural) An area of a monastery outside its legal limits or serving as an outer court.
5. Short for various phrases, including foreign language, foreign parts, and foreign service.

Synonyms[edit]

• (outhouse): chamber foreign; see also Thesaurus:bathroom

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

• «foreign, adj. and n.» in the Oxford English Dictionary (1897), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anagrams[edit]

• Rengifo

Last Updated:
6 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences

In
the vocabulary of the English language there is a considerable layer
of words called barbarisms. These are words of foreign origin which
have not entirely been assimilated into the English lan­guage.
They bear the appearance of a’borrowing and are felt as some­thing
alien to the native tongue. The role foreign borrowings played in the
development of the English literary language is well known, and the
great majority of these borrowed words now form part of the rank and
file of the English vocabulary. It is the science of linguistics, in
particular its branch etymology, that reveals the foreign nature of
this or that word. But most of what were formerly foreign borrowings
are now, from a purely stylistic position, not regarded as foreign.
But still there are some words which retain their foreign appearance
to a greater or lesser degree. These words, which are called
barbarisms, are, like archaisms*, also considered to be on the
outskirts of the lit­erary language. *

Most
of them have corresponding English synonyms; e. g. chic (=stylish);
bon mot (=a clever witty saying); en passant (— in passing); Ы
infinitum (= to infinity) and many other words and phrases.

It
is very important for purely stylistic purposes to distinguish
between barbarisms and foreign words proper. Barbarisms are words
which have already become facts of the English language. They are, as
it were, part and parcel of the English word-stock, though they
remain on the outskirts of the literary vocabulary. Foreign words,
though used for certain stylistic purposes, do not belong to the
English vocabulary. They are not registered by English dictionaries,
except in a kind of ad­denda which gives the meanings of the
foreign words most frequently used in literary English. Barbarisms
are generally given in the body of the dictionary.

In
printed works foreign words and phrases are generally italicized to
indicate their alien nature or their stylistic value. Barbarisms, on
the contrary, are not made conspicuous in the text unless they bear a
special bad of stylistic information.

There
are foreign words in the English vocabulary which fulfil a
terminological function. Therefore, though they still retain their

foreign
appearance, they should not be regarded as barbarisms. Such words as
ukase, udarnik, soviet, kolkhoz and the like denote certain concepts
which reflect an objective reality not familiar to English-speaking
communities. There are no names for them in English and so they have
to be explained. New concepts of this type are generally given the
names they have in the language of the people whose reality they
reflect.

Further,
such words as solo, tenor, concerto, blitzkrieg (the blitz),
luftwaffe and the like should also be distinguished from barbarisms.
They are different not only in their functions but in their nature as
well; They are terms. Terminological borrowings have no synonyms;
barbarisms, on the contrary, may have almost exact synonyms.

It
is evident that barbarisms are a historical category. Many foreign
words and phrases which were once just foreign words used in literary
English to express a concept non-existent in English reality, have
little by little entered the class of words named barbarisms and many
of these barbarisms have gradually lost their foreign peculiarities,
become more or less naturalized and have merged with the native
English stock of words. Conscious, retrograde, spurious and strenuous
are words in Ben Jonson’s play «The Poetaster» which were
made fun of in the author’s time as unnecessary borrowings from the
French. With the passing of time they have become common English
literary words. They no longer raise objections on the part of
English purists. The same can be said of the words .scientific,
methodical, penetrate, function, figurative, obscure, and many
others, which were once barbarisms, but which are now lawful members
of the common literary word-stock of the language.

Both
foreign words and barbarisms are widely used in various styles of
language with various aims, aims which predetermine their typical
functions.

One
of these functions is to supply local colour. In order to depict
local conditions of life,- concrete facts and events, customs and
habits, special carets taken to introduce into the passage such
language elements as will reflect the environment. In this respect a
most conspicuous role is played by the language chosen. In «Vanity
Fair» Thackeray takes the reader to a small German town where a
boy with a remarkable appetite is made the focus of attention. By
introducing several German words into his narrative, the author gives
an indirect description of the peculia­rities of the German щепи
and the environment in general.

«The
little .boy, too, we observed, had a famous appetite, and consumed
schinken, an&braten, and kartoffeln, and cranberry jam… with a
gallantry that did honour to his nation.»

The
German words are italicized to show their alien nature and at the
same time their stylistic function in the passage. These words have
not become facts of the English language and need special decoding to
be understood by the rank and file English-speaking reader.

In
this connection mention might be made of a stylistic device often
used by writers whose knowledge of the language and customs of the
country they depict bursts out from the texture of the narrative,
they

use
foreign words and phrases and sometimes whole sentences quite regard*
less of the fact that these may not be understood by the reader.
However, one suspects that the words are not intended to be
understood exactly. All that is required of the reader is that he
should be aware that the words used are foreign and mean something,
in the above case connected with food. In the above passage the
association of food is maintained through­out by the use of the
words ‘appetite’, ‘consumed’ and the English ‘cranberry jam’. The
context therefore leads the reader to understand that schinken,
braien and kartoffeln are words denoting some kind of food, but
exactly what kind he will learn when he travels in Germany.

The
function of the foreign words used in the context may be con­sidered
to provide local colour as a background to the narrative. In
passa­ges of other kinds units of speech may be used which will
arouse only a vague conception in the mind of the reader. The
significance of such units, however, is not communicative — the
author does not wish them to convey any clear-cut idea — but to
serve in making the main idea stand out more conspicuously.

This
device may be likened to one used in painting by representa­tives
of the Dutch school who made their background almost
indistin­guishable in order that the foreground elements might
stand out dis­tinctly and colourfully.

An
example which is even more characteristic of the use of the local
colour function of foreign words is the following stanza from Byron’s
«Don Juan»:

…
more than poet’s pen

Can
point,— «Cos/ viaggino: ЩссЫГ

(Excuse
a foreign slip-slop now and then,

If
but to show I’ve travell’d: and what’s travel

Unless
it teaches one to quote and cavil?)

The
poet himself calls the foreign words he has used ‘slip-slop’, i. e.
twaddle, something nonsensical.

Another
function of barbarisms and foreign words is to build up the stylistic
device of non-personal direct speech or represented speech (see p.
236). The use of a word, or a phrase, or a sentence in the reported
speech of a local inhabitant helps to reproduce his actual words,
manner of speech and the environment as well. Thus in James
Aldridge’s «The Sea -Eagle» — «And the Cretans were
very willing to feed and hide the Inglisi»—, the last word is
intended to reproduce the actual speech of the local people by
introducing a word actually spt)ken by them, a word which is very
easily understood because of the root.

Generally
such words are first introduced in the direct speech of a character
and then appear in the author’s narrative as an element of reported
speech. Thus in the novel «The Sea Eagle» the word
‘benzina’ (=motor boat) is first mentioned in the direct speech of a
Cretan:

«It
was a warship that sent out its benzina to- catch us arid look for
guns.»

Later
the author uses the same word but already in reported speech:

«He
heard too the noise of a benzina engine starting.»

Barbarisms
and foreign words are used in various styles of language, but are
most often to be found in the style of belles-lettres and the
publi-cistic style. In the belles-lettres style, however, foreignisms
are sometimes used not only as separate units incorporated in the
English narrative. The author makes his character actually speak a
foreign language, by putting a string of foreign words into his
mouth, words which to many readers may be quite unfamiliar. These
phrases or whole sentences are sometimes translated by the writer in
a foot-note or by explaining the foreign utterance in English in the
text. But this is seldom done.

Here
is an example of the use of French by John Galsworthy:

«Revelation
was alighting like a bird in his heart, singing: «Elle est ton
revel Elle est ton revel» («In Chancery»)

No
translation is given, no interpretation. But something else must be
pointed out here. Foreign words and phrases may sometimes be used to
exalt the expression of the idea, to elevate the language. This is in
some respect akin to the function of elevation mentioned in the
chapter on archaisms. Words which we do not quite understand
sometimes have a peculiar charm. This magic quality in words, a
quality not easily grasped, has long been observed and made use of in
various kinds of utteran­ces, particularly in poetry and
folklore.

But
the introduction of foreign speech into the texture of the Eng­lish
language hinders understanding and if constantly used becomes
irritating. It may be likened, in some respect, to jargon. Soames
For­syte, for example, calls it exactly that.

«Epatantt»
he heard one say. «Jargon!» growled Soames to himself.

The
introduction’of actual foreign words in an utterance is not, to our
mind, a special stylistic device, inasmuch as it is not a conscious
and intentional literary use of «the’facts of the English
language. How­ever, foreign words, being alien to the texture of
the language in which the work is written, always arrest the
attention of the reader and there­fore have a definite
stylistic^function. Sometimes the skilful use of one or two foreign
wordsvwill be sufficient to create the impression of an utterance
made in a foreign language. Thus in the following example:

«Deutsche
Soldaten ~^a little while agd, you received a sample of American
strength’.» (Stefan Heym, «The Crusaders»)

The
two words ‘Deutsche Soldaten’ are sufficient to create the
im­pression that the actual speech was made in German, as in real
life it would have been.

The
same effect is sometimes achieved by the slight distortion of an
English word, or a distortion of English grammar in such a way that
the morphological aspect of the distortion will bear a resemblance to
the morphology of the foreign tongue, for example:

«He
look at Miss Forsyte so funny sometimes. I tell him all my story; he
so-sympatisch.» (Galsworthy)

Barbarisms
have still another function when used in the belles-lettres style. We
may call it an «exactifying» function. Words of for-seign
origin generally have a more or less monosemantic value. In other
words, they do not tend to develop new meanings. The English So long,
for example, due to its conventional usage has lost its primary
meaning. It has become a formal phrase of parting. Not so with the
French «Au-revoir.» When used in English as a formal sign
of parting it will either carry the exact meaning of the words it is
composed of, viz. ‘See you again soon’, or have another stylistic
function. Here is an example:

«She
had said *Au revoirV Not good-bye!» (Galsworthy)

The
formal and conventional salutation at parting has become a meaningful
sentence set against another formal salutation at parting which, in
its turn, is revived by the process to its former significance of
«God be with you,» i. e. a salutation used when parting for
some time.

In
publicistic style the use of barbarisms and foreign words is mainly
confined to colouring the passage on the problem in question with &
touch of authority. A person who uses so many foreign words and
phrases is obviously a very educated person, the reader thinks, and
therefore a «man who knows.» Here are some examples of the
use of barbarisms in the publicistic style:

«Yet
en passant I would like to ask here (and answer) what did Rockefeller
think of Labour…» (Dreiser, «Essays and Ar­ticles»)

«Civilization»
— as they knew it — still depended upon making profits ad
infinitum» (Ibid.)

We
may remark in passing that Dreiser was particularly fond of using
barbarisms not only in his essays and articles but in his novels and
stories as well. And this brings us to another question. Is the use
of barbarisms and foreign words a matter of individual preference of
expression, a certain idiosyncrasy of this or that writer? Or is
there a definite norm regulating the usage of this means of
expression in dif­ferent styles of speech? The reader is invited
to make his own observa­tions and inferences on the matter.

Barbarisms
assume the significance of a stylistic device if they display a kind
of interaction between different meanings, or functions, or aspects.
When a word which we consider a barbarism is used so as to evoke a
twofold application we are confronted with an SD.

In
the example given above — «She had said ‘au revoirV Not
good­bye!» the ‘au revoir’ will be understood by the reader
because of its frequent use in some circles of English society.
However, it is to be understood literally here, i. e. ‘So long’ or
‘until we see each other again.’ The twofold perception secures the
desired effect. Set against the English ‘Good-bye’ which is generally
used when, people part for an

indefinite
time, the barbarism loses its formal character and re-establi­shes
its etymological meaning. Consequently, here again we see the clearly
cut twofold application of the language unit, the indispensable
re­quirement for a stylistic device.