oversea, a. and adv.
[f. over prep. + sea. (OE. had ofersǽwisc transmarine, foreign.) Cf. overseas adv. (n.) and a.]
A. adj. (ˈoversea).
1. Of or pertaining to movement or transport over the sea; transmarine.
| 1552 Huloet, Ouersea, transmarinus, as well in goynge as commynge. 1570 Buchanan Chamæleon Wks. (1892) 46 The oursey trafficque of mariage growing cauld. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4674/1 An Act..for taking off the Oversea Duty on Coals exported in British Bottoms. 1812 G. Chalmers Dom. Econ. Gt. Brit. 416 The..amount of the Irish over-sea trade. 1894 C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 6 The Navy..for oversea attack is plainly essential. |
† 2. Imported from beyond the sea; of foreign make; made abroad; foreign. Obs.
| 1509 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 5 To Sir Thomas Pilley my wedding ringe and a overse bed. 1552 Inventories (Surtees) 14 One crosse of leade of oversee work. 1600 Acc.-Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 279 Item, one over sea coveringe, xvs. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) III. 369 His new opinions, and over-sea dreams touching discipline and policie of the Kirk. |
3. Situated beyond the sea; connected or having to do with countries beyond the sea; foreign.
| 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 6 The wife of youth, that..expects he [her husband] shall return to her from over-sea lands. 1881 Gladstone Sp. at Knowsley 27 Oct., The questions of what I may call over-sea policy in Europe, Asia, and America. 1893 Times 6 July 11/1 They were..betrayed by their oversea accents. 1931 Times 17 Feb. 9/1 The competition of our rivals in the home and oversea markets. 1953 [see dominion n. 2 b]. 1955 P. Townsend China Phoenix 9 He was Fukienese by birth, from a province of China from which came many oversea Chinese. 1959 Times 30 July 6/6 (heading) Council formed for oversea research. 1969 IEEE Trans. Antennas & Propagation XVII. 254/1 In ship-to-ship detectability studies it is important to have a method of estimating oversea radar range distribution. |
B. adv. (ˈover ˈsea). Across or beyond the sea; on the other side of the sea; abroad.
| [a 1450 tr. Higden, Contin., Rolls VIII. 485 All oþer castells and towres over see longynge to the crowne of Ynglonde.] 1616 Sir G. Hay Let. in J. Russell Haigs vii. (1881) 146 If he be not found there [at Court], it is likely that he pretended Court, and meant over-sea. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 50 And what though all this go not oversea? 'twere better it did. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 2 By the help of canvas wings..[he] proposes to fly over⁓sea from Dover to Calais. 1895 Daily Chron. 16 Jan. 3/3 Now living oversea in a quiet farmstead. 1903 W. B. Yeats In Seven Woods 15 And you are more high of heart than she For all her wanderings over-sea. 1955 Times 9 May 11/2 Private investment oversea. 1974 Black World Jan. 55/2 He have to go leave that Ford car when he go oversea from Fort Benning, and it stay in our front yard. |