foreigner

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈfɔɹ.ɪ.nɚ/ UK /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #8345

Meanings

1

noun
A person from another country.

As a foreigner, he found the local customs fascinating.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person from another country. alien

More barbarianfirangiforeign fremdfremdlingfurrinergaijinnon-residentnoninhabitantnonlocalnonnational

Opposites

aborigineautochthoncitizen compatriot countrymancountrywomannativenonforeigner

Word family

Forms foreigners

Derived forms antiforeignerforeignershipnonforeigner

Related forms foreignfurriner

Etymology

From Middle English forner, foreyner, foroner, forenere, augmentation of earlier forein (“foreigner”), from the adjective. Equivalent to foreign + -er. Use of the -er suffix may be due to analogy with Middle English straunger (“stranger”). Displaced native Old English elþēodiġ.

forner Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# foreigner

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɔɹ.ɪ.nɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 8345

## Meanings
1. A person from another country.

## Examples
- As a foreigner, he found the local customs fascinating.

## Synonyms
- alien
- barbarian
- firangi
- foreign
- fremd
- fremdling
- furriner
- gaijin
- non-resident
- noninhabitant
- nonlocal
- nonnational

## Antonyms
- aborigine
- autochthon
- citizen
- compatriot
- countryman
- countrywoman
- native
- nonforeigner

## Derived Forms
- antiforeigner
- foreignership
- nonforeigner

## Related Forms
- foreign
- furriner

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: forner

## Etymology
From Middle English forner, foreyner, foroner, forenere, augmentation of earlier forein (“foreigner”), from the adjective. Equivalent to foreign + -er. Use of the -er suffix may be due to analogy with Middle English straunger (“stranger”). Displaced native Old English elþēodiġ.

## AI Etymology
Foreigner comes from Middle English forner, foreyner, foroner, forenere, augmentation of earlier forein (“foreigner”), from the adjective. Equivalent to foreign + -er. Use of the -er suffix may be due to analogy with Middle English straunger (“stranger”). Displaced native Old English elþēodiġ. In current use, the main sense is “A person from another country”.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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