Fōr'eign, a.

(fôr'in), a. [Fr. forain, Sp. forano, foraneo, L. Lat. foraneus, from Lat. foras, foris, out of doors, abroad, without, O. Fr. fors, N. Fr. hors, Pr. foras, fors, Pg. fora, It. fuora, fuori, Sp. fuera, O. Sp. fueras.

1Sense 1. Not of one's country; not native; extraneous; alien; from abroad; as, foreign worlds. Milton.

Ancient and modern, domestic and foreign writers. Atterbury.

2Sense 2. Remote; not belonging; not connected; not pertaining or pertinent; not appropriate; not harmonious; not agreeable; not congenial;—with to or from; as, foreign to the purpose.

3Sense 3. Held at a distance; not admitted; excluded. Shak.

Foreign attachment (Law), a process by which the property of a foreign or absent debtor is attached for the satisfaction of a debt due from him to the plaintiff; an attachment of the goods, effects, or credits of a debtor in the hands of a third person;—called in some States trustee, in others factorizing, and in others garnishee process. Kent. Tomlins. Concell.—Foreign bill, a bill drawn in one country, and payable in another, as distinguished from an inland bill, which is one drawn and payable in the same country. In this latter, as well as in several other points of view, the different States of the Union are foreign to each other. Kent. Story.

Synonyms—Outlandish; alien; exotic; remote: extraneous; extrinsic.