Etymologically
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foreigner

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 12:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /ˈfɔɹ.ɪ.nɚ/, /ˈfɔɹ.ə.nɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English foreiner, also forener and foraner,[2] formed from Middle English forein + -er,[2][3][4] that is, from foreign and -er.[5][6][7] Forein is from Anglo-Norman forein, from Old French forain (“exterior, from outside”),[5][7] from Medieval Latin forāneus (“on the outside”),[7] from forīs (“outside, out of doors”).[7] Anglo-Norman and Old French already used the adjective as a noun for a foreigner or outsider (12th century) and a non-member of a guild (14th century),[5] and Middle English had foreign itself as a noun from the early 14th century.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who is not a citizen or freeman of a town, or not a member of a guild; an outsider: 1422, in a London plea.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is local: a person from another parish, town or district.[5][2] The sense "a person from another country, especially one whose language and culture differ" is recorded from 1483, in Caxton's Pilgrimage of the Soul,[5] and Johnson (1755) defined the word as "a man that comes from another country; not a native; a stranger".[8] The OED observed that in England it was chiefly used of speakers of a foreign language, so that Americans were not usually included,[7] while in American English from the 1620s to the mid-19th century it could mean someone from another colony or state.[7] The older sense of an outsider in a community survives in dialect.[6][3] The word was also applied to things from abroad, such as an imported plant or a foreign ship (1677),[5][6] and in British slang (from 1914) to a job done privately at work for one's own benefit.[5][6] American prison slang used it for a convict who was not a professional thief (1933) and for an inmate serving time for a sexual crime (1935).[9] The spelling furriner, imitating the pronunciation, is from 1832.[7]

Timeline

  • 1422 – a non-citizen of a town or non-member of a guild.[5][2]
  • 1483 – a person from another country.[5]
  • 1570 – figurative, a person estranged from something.[5]
  • 1620s – in American English, a person from another colony.[7]
  • 1677 – something brought from another country.[5]
  • 1832 – the spelling furriner.[7]
  • 1883 – foreign stocks and shares (now rare).[5]
  • 1914 – a private job done at work.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person from another country, especially one whose language and customs differ from one's own; an alien: As a foreigner, he needed a visa to work there.[10][3][5]
  2. An outsider or stranger to a place or group; in dialect, a person from outside the local community.[10][3][6]
  3. Something that comes from another country, such as a ship or a product.[10][3][5]
  4. (British slang) A job done at work, or with an employer's materials, for one's own private benefit.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins