for ‧ eign S3 W1 /ˈfɒrən, ˈfɒrɪn $ ˈfɔː-, ˈfɑː-/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: forein , from Latin foris 'outside' ]
1 . from or relating to a country that is not your own:
foreign students
Can you speak any foreign languages?
the success of foreign companies in various industries
I thought she sounded foreign.
transactions in foreign currencies
2 . [only before noun] involving or dealing with other countries OPP domestic :
America’s foreign policy
foreign investment/trade etc
Foreign competition provides consumers with a greater variety of goods.
our budget for foreign aid (=financial help to countries in need)
the Chinese Foreign Minister
3 . be foreign to somebody formal
a) to seem strange to someone as the result of not being known or understood SYN be alien to somebody :
The language of finance is quite foreign to me.
b) to be not typical of someone’s usual character:
Aggression is completely foreign to his nature.
4 . foreign body/matter/object formal a piece of dirt, glass, or other material that has got inside something, especially someone’s body, and that should not be there:
cells that are designed to attack and destroy foreign bodies
—foreignness noun [uncountable]