Foreign

Foreign is an adjective used to describe something that originates outside a country, culture, or system, or that is not native to a place. It can also function as a noun in reference to things related to other countries, although its use as a standalone noun is less common. The term appears in everyday speech as well as in technical and academic domains, from international relations to language studies.

Etymology traces foreign to Old French estrange or forain, meaning outside or external, itself linked to Latin extrā and extrānus. In English, the word evolved to signify things relating to other countries or to what is not native to a particular locale or context.

In international relations and law, foreign denotes relations between states or other political units. Foreign policy and foreign affairs describe a government’s strategies and activities abroad, while foreign aid and foreign trade refer to assistance and commerce with other countries. In this sense, foreign is used to distinguish external interactions from domestic ones.

In education and culture, foreign commonly describes languages not native to the speaker, as in foreign language study, and notions of foreignness or the foreign from the perspective of a culture’s insiders. In medicine and biology, a foreign body is any object that is not normally part of the body's tissues or organs, and a foreign body reaction refers to the tissue response to such material.

Usage notes highlight that foreign can imply distance or unfamiliarity and may carry different connotations depending on tone and context. See also foreigners, foreignness, overseas, and alien.