Where does “foreign” come from?
Foreign comes from Middle English forein, from Old French forain, from Vulgar Latin foranus, from Latin foris meaning "outside," from Proto-Indo-European dʰwer- meaning "door."
foreign (English): Located outside a country or place, especially...
Definitions
- Located outside a country or place, especially...
Ancestry of “foreign”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | foreyn | Nonlocal; not from or in one's town or immediate... |
| 2 | Old French | forain | — |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | foranus | outsider, outlander |
| 4 | Latin | forās | — |
| 5 | Latin | -ās | — |
| 6 | Latin | -ātis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 11 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
Words derived from “foreign”