▪ I. foreign, a. and n.
(ˈfɒrɪn)
Forms: 3, 5–6 foren(e, 3—4, 6–7, 9 forein(e, -eyn(e, 4, 6–8 for(r)ain(e, 5–6 -ayn(e, 4–6 forreyn(e, 5–7 -ayne, 6–8 forr-en, -ei(g)ne, -aign(e, (7 foran, furraine), 6– foreign.
[a. OF. forain:—popular L. type *forānus, f. forās, for-īs: see for- prefix3.
Med.L. had forāneus (Sp. foraneo) on the analogy of extrāneus; also forinsecus adj. (f. class. L. forinsecus adv.), which in Eng. Law Latin is the usual equivalent of foreign.]
A. adj.
† 1. a. Out of doors; outside. a chamber foreign: a privy (cf. foreign n.). foreign darkness = ‘outer darkness’. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 310 In to a chambre forene þe gadelyng gan wende. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. metr. ii. 3 (Camb. MS.) Mintinge to goon in to foreine derknesses. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 234 This is the name that chaceth away the clips Of foreyn dirkenesse. |
† b. Concerned with matters at a distance from home; outside; opposed to
domestic.
Obs.| 1605 in Archæologia (1800) XIII. 316 [The steward] is to see into all offices, soe well forraine, as at home. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. xiii. §1 (1622) 348 By writing, we may giue direction for our foraine Businesses, though we stay at home; and for our domestical, though we be abroad. |
† c. nonce-use. ? Excluded, kept away (from court, or from employment in affairs).
The sense is doubtful: it may be ‘resident abroad’ (
cf. 7), or ‘outside the circle of one's intimate friends’ (
cf. 2 b).
| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. ii. 129 You enuide him; And fearing he would rise..Kept him a forraigne man still. |
2. a. Belonging to other persons or things; not one's own;
= L.
alienus. Now
rare.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 9 (Camb. MS.) For nede of foreyne moneye [mistranslation of æris alieni necessitate, ‘through pressure of debt’]. Ibid. ii. pr. v. 32 (Camb. MS.) Fortune ne shal neuer makyn þat swyche thynges ben thyne, þat nature of thinges hath maked foreyne fro the. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church Porch lxi, Keep all thy native good, and naturalize All forrain of that name; but scorn their ill. 1733 Pope Ess. Man iii. 21 Nothing is foreign; parts relate to whole. 1851 Hussey Papal Power i. 35 The interference of Bishops in foreign Sees. |
† b. Not of one's household or family.
Obs.| 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. iii 89 They..powre our Treasures into forraigne laps. 1608 ― Per. iv. i. 34, I loue the king your father..with more then forraine heart. |
† c. Of possessions, expenses: Other than personal.
Obs.| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xviii. (Arb.) 53 Quick cattel being the first property of any forreine possession. I say forreine, because alway men claimed property in their apparell and armour, and other like things made by their owne..industry. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. II. ii. ii. 260 To have their foreign expences after the rate of 100l. a year. |
3. Proceeding from other persons or things.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. pr. iii. 55 (Camb. MS.) Than..hath a man nede to seken hym foreyne helpe by whyche he may deffende hys moneye? 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 16 The truthe is then set free from all douting, when not vpholden by forayne aides it self alone sufficeth to susteine it self. 1659 Hammond On Ps. Pref. §3. 2 For this..we must appeal to forreign testimonies. 1712 Blackmore Creation i. 395 Machines..Move by a foreign impulse, not their own. 1834 M. Somerville Connect. Phys. Sc. x. (1849) 81 If the system be not deranged by a foreign cause. |
4. Alien in character; not related to or concerned with the matter under consideration; irrelevant, dissimilar, inappropriate. Now only
const. from,
to.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 279 A vice foreine fro the lawe. 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 103 The Lord of the Copyhold is not to be taxed for the Soil of the Copyhold: for although he might come to it by forfeiture committed, yet that is a forain possibility. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. 64 Our Author's sense and interpretation seems to me..forraign, arbitrary, and unnatural. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 118 This is a matter forreign to my Judicature. 1701 Swift Sacramental Test Wks. 1755 II. i. 128 This design is not so foreign from some people's thoughts. 1724 A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 193 To tell the woman Ye worship ye know not what relates..to a matter wholly foreign. 1735 Berkeley Def. Free-think. in Math. §42 All you have been saying..is quite foreign to the argument. 1756 Burke Subl. & B. iii. vi, To leave these foreign examples; if beauty in our own species was annexed to use, men would be much more lovely than women. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Grace bef. Meat, [The diet] least stimulative to appetite, leaves the mind most free for foreign considerations. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xix, However foreign to his nature and disposition. 1873 Helps Anim. & Mast. i. (1875) 16 A purpose foreign from his pursuits. |
5. Introduced from outside; not belonging to the place in which it is found;
esp. in Surgical use, of substances embedded in tissues of the body.
spec. in
phr. foreign body.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iii. (1651) 262 Excluding forrain aire and winds. 1626 Bacon Sylva §334 A Forreign Spirit, stronger and more eager than the Spirit of the Body. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. ii. 133 Yet in its dilation will admit of no aether or forrain Substance to enter the pores thereof. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 123, I discovered, by the probe, this foreign body. 1770 Priestley in Phil. Trans. LX. 204 Part of the electric matter natural to the body must be repelled, to make room for the foreign electricity. 1875 Lyell's Princ. Geol. I. ii. xv. 331 A hard chlorite rock equally foreign to the immediate neighbourhood. 1898 Daily News 30 Nov. 8/1 The presence of the ‘foreign body’—a disguising euphemism for half an ounce..of lead entering a man at great velocity. 1961 Brit. Med. Dict. 577/1 Foreign body, a substance present in any part of the body in which normally it is not found, and usually of external origin. 1964 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 14) xxvi. 375 Foreign bodies,..particles of coal dust, emery, steel, etc.—may pitch upon the conjunctiva or..cornea. |
6. a. Situated outside an estate, manor, district, parish, province, etc.
| [1292 Britton iii. viii. §5 Vivers foreyns.] 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 7 Dwelling in a foren Shire. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 4 Preamb., Outlawries had ageynst theym in forreyn Counties. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 3 b, It is to be inquered of forren pastures that is comyn..what the lorde may haue in the same. 1676 Degge Parson's Counsellor ii. v. 166 To be imployed in a Forrain Parish. 1885 E. B. Ivatts Railw. Managem. 547 To the employees of railway ‘A’ all other railways in respect to traffic are ‘foreign’. |
b. Belonging to or coming from another district, county, society, etc.
| c 1460 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 317 Ye schall couer no foren stranger yn no wys under yo{supr} franches. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 437 The markethouse..was buylded for the free⁓sale of the foreyn Boocher, and of the foreyn Fishmonger. c 1638 Order Priv. Counc. in Penkethman Artach. H ij b, The forreigne Bakers which bring their Bread to be sold in the market of any Citie. 1891 Daily News 18 Sept. 3/3 There has been a great demand for foreign labour in Kent. 1895 Guardian 6 Mar. 363/3 The foreign examiners [at Durham] are the Regius Professor of Hebrew, Oxford, and the Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge. |
† c. ? Dealing with matters outside (the manor).
| 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4465/6 In the Hands of the foreign Bailiff of Dudley. |
7. Situated outside the country; not in one's own land.
In this and the following senses, the word is in British use not applied to parts of the United Kingdom, nor, ordinarily, to (former) colonies chiefly inhabited by English-speaking people. In the
U.S. the designations of
foreign corporation,
foreign port, are sometimes applied to those belonging to other States of the Union.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 160 [Isles] that fro the lond forein Leie open to the wynd al plein. Ibid. III. 185 A place, Which is forein out in an ile. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xvii. 183 Whan men gon beȝonde tho iourneyes, toward Ynde and to the foreyn Yles. c 1450 Merlin 577 Kynge Alein of the forayn londes. 1524 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 1 Preamb., The said outwarde and foren regions. 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 9 Whil'st I in forreigne Kingdomes search my Fate. 1700 Wallis in Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 313 In some forain universities. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 385 In some foreign clime which is..beyond our ken. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xxxviii. 63 They usually talk of corporations belonging to other States as ‘foreign’. |
8. a. Pertaining to, characteristic of, or derived from another country or nation; not domestic or native.
foreign legion: see
legion 1 b.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 29, I am but foreyn in this cuntre. 1535 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. II. 325 No more jurisdiction w{supt}{suph} in this realme than anie oodre foreyne bisshoppe. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 7 To build his suretie vpon forreine strength, seeing he had no confidence in his owne forces. 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 8 If my owne land proue thus vnnaturall I'le purchase forraine aid. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Pref. (1858) 5 Plentifully furnished with various Foraign Vanities. 1676 Hobbes Iliad Pref. (1686) 2 Forein words. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 49 ¶9 The Foreign Ministers residing at the Hague. 1771 Junius Lett. lix. 308 A foreign force..actually landed upon our coast. 1832 Lewis Use & Ab. Pol. Terms iii. 32 The foreign and native commodity. 1849 Hare Serm. II. 435 The plan sprang up in the heart of a forein king. 1875 H. James R. Hudson iv. 140 She spoke with a vague foreign accent. |
b. transf. Unfamiliar, strange.
| 1881 Illingworth Serm. in Coll. Chapel 74 Such language may be a little foreign, but the experience is universal. |
c. foreign devil [
tr. Chin. yang kuei-tzu (also, formerly,
fan kuei(-tzu), and other regional forms)]: a term of contempt for a foreigner (
esp. a European) in China; also
transf.| [1842 China as it Was viii. 51 Be it remarked, that the term Fan-Qui, signifying literally ‘barbarian wanderer’, or ‘outlandish demon’ is applied invariably by the subjects of the ‘Celestial Empire’ to all foreigners.] 1860 Englishman in China 237 All rush to their doors, and press to see the ‘Fan Qui’, or foreign devils; though I must here add that but once was that name applied to us, and really they were all of them most civil. 1889 G. B. Shaw Fabian Ess. Socialism 174 A Frenchman or Scotchman was a natural enemy: a Muscovite was a foreign devil. 1926 A. Huxley Jesting Pilate iii. 248 The trees might just be saying, ‘Foreign Devil, Foreign Devil’, and repeating it monotonously, mile after mile. 1937 E. Snow Red Star over China i. iv. 43 It was the perfect setting for the blotting-out of a too inquisitive foreign devil. 1965 P. Ordway Night of Reckoning (1967) ii. 39 Most of us foreign devils [in Spain] found seasonal rentals a very necessary source of additional income. 1969 V. G. Kiernan Lords of Human Kind v. 167 Against these new barbarians China was building a new Great Wall, of hatred. Wherever they went they were saluted with cries of ‘foreign devil’. |
9. Carried on or taking place abroad, into or with other countries.
spec. opp. inland, as
foreign bill,
foreign exchange (see
exchange n. 4 and
quots.).
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI (an. 32) 167 When foren warre and outward battailes, were brought to an ende. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 176 To take on mee a forreigne voyage. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 475 A forraigne Invasion abroad. 1653 Walton Angler i. 32 A man whose forraign imployments in the service of this Nation, and [etc.]. 1691 [see exchange n. 4]. 1810 C. James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), Foreign Service..any service done out of the limits of Great Britain, Ireland..etc. 1840 H. Malcom Trav. 34/1 The foreign trade is extinct. 1849 [see inland a. 2]. 1940 Manch. Guardian Weekly 5 Jan. 3 Behind all these questions of supply lie the inexorable limitations of foreign exchange and shipping space. 1948 G. Crowther Outl. Money (ed. 2) vii. 202 (heading) The Foreign Exchanges. Ibid. 210 The foreign exchange market was originally the ‘foreign-bills-of-exchange market’. It was the place where bills payable in New York, Shanghai, Buenos Aires and half a hundred other places could be bought. 1951 J. R. Winton Dict. Econ. Terms (ed. 3) 38 Foreign exchange, strictly, this term denotes the transaction of exchanging one currency for another but, in practice, it is often used to refer to actual currency, e.g. foreign currency notes or the means of obtaining such through travellers' cheques or letters of credit. 1971 Daily Tel. 10 May 14/2 The currency of any other country is ‘foreign exchange’. |
10. Dealing with matters concerning other countries.
Foreign Office: the department of the ‘Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs’; the building in which the business of this department is carried on. Also, intended for use in transactions or correspondence with other countries, as in
foreign bill (see
quot. 1767),
foreign letter-paper. Also in
Journalism.
| 1611 Coryat Crudities Epist. Dedic., The Observations of my trauels..I hope..will be very delectable to every Reader that loueth to heare of forraine affaires. 1623 J. Chamberlain Let. 21 Nov. (1939) II. 527 The selected commissioners for forain affaires sit much. 1655 Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) II. 241 Other furraine newes I heare not. 1659 Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 12 John Milton, Esqire, Secretarye for the Forrain affaires. 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 15 So are usually all Forreign Bills. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman Introd. (1841) I. 2 Such as carry on foreign correspondences. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. xxx. 467 These bills [of exchange] are either foreign, or inland foreign, when drawn by a merchant residing abroad upon his correspondent in England or vice versa. 1848 Thackeray Pendennis I. xxx, Look! here comes the Foreign Express galloping in. Ibid., Mr. Doolan..is foreign sub⁓editor, and sees the mail on the newspaper sheet before he goes to his own. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Result Wks. (Bohn) II. 133 The foreign policy of England. 1859 Sat. Rev. VIII. 62/2 The army and the Foreign Office have, to a certain extent, escaped the constitutionalizing process. 1870 Nation (N.Y.) 27 Jan. 54/2 There is..a column of telegrams from Europe in every issue of the daily papers, which editors are accustomed to refer to as furnishing the latest ‘foreign intelligence’. 1877 Harper's Mag. Dec. 53/2 Foreign correspondence in the hands of a foreign editor. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 113 No contribution to exceed six pages of foreign note paper. 1959 C. Ogburn Marauders (1960) ii. 47 A reporter and a writer on the foreign desk of The Chicago Daily News. 1967 [see city page s.v. city 9]. 1971 Guardian 22 July 11/8 Foreign correspondents during the previous days used, perforce, comments from the angry hippies. |
11. Law.
foreign apposer,
foreign attachment (see the
ns.);
foreign answer,
foreign matter,
foreign plea,
foreign service (see
quots. 1607).
† foreign intent: a constructive sense not implied in the wording of the instrument to be interpreted; opposed to
common intent.
| 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 2 Of feyned and untrew Foreyn pleyes triable in foreyn Countes. 1607 Cowell Interpr. s.v., Forein aunswer..such an answer, as is not triable in the countie where it is made. [With a reference to Act 15 Hen. VI, c. 5, which reads: Jesques au temps que chescun des ditz foreins severalx responses soit trie.] 1607 Cowell Interpr., Forein Apposer (forinsecarum oppositor). Ibid., Forein attachment (attachiamentum forinsecum). Ibid., Forein mater..mater triable in another countie. Ibid., Forein-plea..a refusal of the Iudge as incompetent, because the mater in hand was not within his precincts. Ibid., Forein seruice..such service, whereby a meane Lord holdeth ouer of another, without the compasse of his owne fee..or else that which a tenant performeth..out of the fee. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law x. (1636) 43 The graunts of a common person..shall be extended as well to a forrein intent as to a common intent. 1685 Keble King's Bench Rep. II. 132 The Defendant pleads a forein attachment in London of 50 li. 1800 Durnford & East Cases King's Bench VIII. 417 A foreign attachment in the Mayor's court at the suit of the plaintiff. |
¶ 12. † Used to translate L.
forensis: Made in open court, public.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. pr. iii. 55 (Camb. MS.) For whennes comyn elles alle thyse foreyne compleyntes. |
13. quasi-adv. (to fit, go, sail, etc.) foreign,
i.e. for foreign parts. (
Naut. colloq.)
| 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay v, We were ordered to fit foreign. 1840 ― Poor Jack xiii, In consequence of our being about to sail foreign. 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xix, But the captain is going foreign, is he not? |
14. Comb. Chiefly locative and parasynthetic, as
foreign-built,
foreign-foliaged,
foreign-going,
foreign-looking,
foreign-made,
foreign-manned,
† foreign-nationed,
foreign-owned (
= owned by a foreigner, of foreign ownership),
foreign-wrought, etc.
adjs.. Also
foreign aid [
aid n. 3 c],
foreign-born (
= born abroad),
foreign-language attrib.| 1958 *Foreign-aid [see aid n. 3 c]. 1968 B. Turner Circle of Squares viii. 51 The foreign aid we have lashed out so lavishly. 1969 New Yorker 31 May 68/3 Because foreign-aid resources have been so limited, Indonesia's economic-development efforts..have been confined largely to food production. |
| 1856 J. P. Hambleton H. A. Wise 57 Both the Alien and Sedition laws were intended for the oppression of *foreign born citizens. 1940 J. H. Jagger English in Future 124 Native-born with one parent foreign-born. 1964 P. F. Anson Bishops at Large ix. 440 A foreign-born Mexican citizen. |
| 1678 in Marvell Growth Popery 64 The Agatha, *Foreign built, 250 Tuns. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 16 June 1/3 A *foreign-controlled department of public works. |
| 1898 Daily News 5 Nov. 6/3 The commander of the *foreign drilled troops. |
| 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reform. (1891) 54 The vast *foreign-foliaged, primeval forests. |
| 1863 H. Cox Instit. iii. v. 658 Masters and mates of *foreign-going vessels. |
| 1905 Daily Chron. 22 Nov. 6/3 Our corn is part home-grown and part *foreign-grown. |
| 1933 Bloomfield Lang. iii. 54 The factor of *foreign-language speaking does not lend itself to measurement. 1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Aug. 514/3 The kind of Americans of foreign-language origin who are members of the population of the United States. 1959 Encounter Dec. 56/2 The BBC set new standards for foreign-language broadcasts. 1971 Incorporated Linguist X. 39/1 No one would claim that British foreign-language policy towards Europe is or should be principally determined by the extent to which English is known and used in Europe. |
| 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. (1863) 213 A dark, sallow, *foreign-looking personage. |
| 1895 Daily News 15 June 5/4 *Foreign-made machinery. |
| 1599 R. Linche Fount. Anc. Fict. H j b, The vncertaine steps of *forren-nationed pilgrimes. |
| 1878 A. L. Perry Elem. Pol. Econ. 556 American-built but *foreign-owned ships. |
| 1906 Daily Chron. 13 Aug. 4/7 The *foreign-trained fitters and machinists. |
| 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 808 Lawes..agaynst..*forreign wrought wares. |
B. quasi-n. and n. † 1. a. = foreigner 1. Also, a foreign vessel.
Obs.| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 322 Þe tounes, þe countes, þe foreyns alle aboute, To þe kyng felle on knes. 1429 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 143 Outrayeng foreyns that cam from Babilon. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 197 Of these false forrains renneth so great a bande Vnto our shippes, that [etc.]. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. iii. 19 Ambassages..or whatsoever other business of the provincials, or forraigns. 1643 Decl. Lords & Com., Reb. Ireland 50 They took yesterday a Forrain laden with deales. |
† b. One not a citizen, or more particularly not a member of the guild, a stranger, an outsider.
| c 1350 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 361 Ȝef a foreyne empledy þe teþynge. 1487 in Ann. Barber-Surg. Lond. (1890) 581 Ye shall not admytt eny foren to be of this misterie. 1540 R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) N vj, For citicens favour more one another, than they do forrains. |
† 2. Short for
chambre foreine (see A. 1).
Obs.| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7436 Ful foule ys þat forreyne Þat ys comoun for al certeyne. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1962 Ariadne, The tour..Was ioyning in the walle to a foreyne. 1505 in Gage Thingoe Hundred 140 To be wrought with calion and breke, with foreyns and other necessaries. 1570 Levins Manip. 201/8 A Forayne, forica. |
3. a. That part of a town which lies outside the borough or the parish proper. Now
local.
| 1668 Plot Staffordsh. viii. §82. 314 All the Villages and Hamlets belonging thereunto [Walsall]..which they call the forraigne. 1782 Nash Worcestersh. II. 39 The inhabitants of the foreign of Kidderminster, so called to distinguish them from the inhabitants of the borough. 1856 Glew Walsall 3 The parish is in two townships, called the Borough and Foreign. 1875 Sussex Gloss. s.v. Foreigner, At Rye..that part of the parish which lies out of the boundary of the corporation, is called the Foreign of Rye. |
b. pl. The outer court of a monastery; also, the space immediately outside the monastic precincts.
Obs., but surviving as proper name in various places where monasteries existed.
| 1668 Wilkes Plan Canterbury cited in Willis Monast. Canterb. (1869) 152 Y⊇ forrins. 1799 Hasted Kent IV. 575 The space of ground without or foreign to it [the jurisdiction of the church] called the Foreigns, now vulgarly the Follings. 1872 Gloss. Eccl. Terms (ed. Shipley), Foreign Court..Also called Foreigns. |
4. a. in foreign: abroad.
| c 1618 Fletcher Q. Corinth iii. i, One that hath As people say in forraigne pleasur'd him. |
b. ellipt. for
foreign language,
foreign parts,
foreign service, etc.
| 1906 R. Brooke Let. 3 Feb. (1968) 39 The Calendar has appeared. There are about eight foreigns [sc. matches against teams from other schools]. 1907 A. Quiller-Couch Major Vigoureux ix. 90, I was thinking that—she being from foreign and the Islands the first place she've touched at—I might pick up a bravish order in the way of fresh milk and eggs. 1955 G. Freeman Liberty Man i. iii. 49 ‘On leave, Jack?’ ‘Yeah... Just back from foreign.’ 1962 Times 13 Feb. 12/6, I had tried to explain I'd just arrived from ‘foreign’ [sc. foreign service]. 1971 P. O'Donnell Impossible Virgin v. 103 He was a foreigner, and he babbled in foreign. |
Hence
ˈforeignly adv.;
ˈforeignness.
| 1611 Cotgr., Peregrinité..forrainenesse. 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 249 The forreignness and obscurity of some texts. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. i. v. 32 His English had little foreignness except its fluency. 1880 J. Caird Philos. Relig. vi. 169 When a being or object reveals itself to feeling, it, so to speak, loses any vestige of foreignness or estrangement. 1880 G. Meredith Trag. Com. ix. 169 He rose out of his amazement..foreignly beholding himself. |
▸
foreign direct investment n. Econ. investment by a company in a country other than that in which the company is based; an instance of this; (also) the total amount of investment in any one country by companies from abroad; abbreviated
FDI;
cf. foreign portfolio investment n. at Additions.
| 1936 Amer. Econ. Rev. 26 328 The author has scanned the entire field of *foreign direct investments with the view to ascertaining whether or not these have led to international friction. 1941L. Rasminksy in J. F. Parkinson Canad. War Econ. 91 The value of foreign direct investment in Canada, being defined as investment effective control of which is exercised in one external country. 2002 Wall St. Jrnl. 14 Oct. r4/3 The result is that renewed interest in Russia has yet to translate into big inflows of foreign direct investment. |
▸
foreign portfolio investment n. Econ. portfolio investment in overseas companies, without taking a controlling interest;
cf. foreign direct investment n. at Additions.
| 1951 Far Eastern Surv. 20 85/1 Consider, for example, the case of *foreign portfolio investment. 2003 Business Day (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 11 Feb. 8 There is a notion that foreign portfolio investment—in equities, bonds and money market instruments—is bad as it is volatile, but foreign direct investment (defined rather artificially as a share of 10% or more) is good. |
▪ II. † foˈreign, v. Obs.—0 [f. prec.] (See
quot.)
| 1598 Florio, Esternare, to alienate, estrange, forraine. |