Foreign in Different Languages
Discover 'Foreign' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Foreign
Afrikaans vreemd | ||
Albanian i huaj | ||
Amharic ባዕድ | ||
Arabic أجنبي | ||
Armenian օտար | ||
Assamese বিদেশী | ||
Aymara anqajankiri | ||
Azerbaijani xarici | ||
Bambara dunuan | ||
Basque atzerritarra | ||
Belarusian замежны | ||
Bengali বিদেশী | ||
Bhojpuri बिलायती | ||
Bosnian strani | ||
Bulgarian чуждестранен | ||
Catalan estranger | ||
Cebuano langyaw | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 国外 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 國外 | ||
Corsican stranieri | ||
Croatian strani | ||
Czech zahraniční, cizí | ||
Danish udenlandsk | ||
Dhivehi ޚާރިޖީ | ||
Dogri बदेसी | ||
Dutch buitenlands | ||
English foreign | ||
Esperanto fremda | ||
Estonian võõras | ||
Ewe duta | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dayuhan | ||
Finnish ulkomainen | ||
French étranger | ||
Frisian frjemd | ||
Galician estranxeiro | ||
Georgian უცხოელი | ||
German fremd | ||
Greek ξένο | ||
Guarani pytagua | ||
Gujarati વિદેશી | ||
Haitian Creole etranje | ||
Hausa baƙo | ||
Hawaiian haole | ||
Hebrew זָר | ||
Hindi विदेश | ||
Hmong tuaj txawv tebchaws | ||
Hungarian külföldi | ||
Icelandic erlendum | ||
Igbo onye ala ọzọ | ||
Ilocano baniaga | ||
Indonesian asing | ||
Irish eachtrach | ||
Italian straniero | ||
Japanese 外国人 | ||
Javanese wong asing | ||
Kannada ವಿದೇಶಿ | ||
Kazakh шетелдік | ||
Khmer បរទេស | ||
Kinyarwanda abanyamahanga | ||
Konkani विदेशी | ||
Korean 외국 | ||
Krio ɔda | ||
Kurdish xerîb | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) بیانی | ||
Kyrgyz чет элдик | ||
Lao ຕ່າງປະເທດ | ||
Latin aliena | ||
Latvian ārzemju | ||
Lingala mopaya | ||
Lithuanian užsienio | ||
Luganda -nna ggwanga | ||
Luxembourgish auslännesch | ||
Macedonian странски | ||
Maithili विदेश | ||
Malagasy vahiny | ||
Malay asing | ||
Malayalam വിദേശ | ||
Maltese barranin | ||
Maori tauiwi | ||
Marathi परदेशी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯤꯔꯝ | ||
Mizo ramdang | ||
Mongolian гадаад | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နိုင်ငံခြား | ||
Nepali विदेशी | ||
Norwegian fremmed | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) yachilendo | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବିଦେଶୀ | ||
Oromo orma | ||
Pashto بهرني | ||
Persian خارجی | ||
Polish obcy | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) estrangeiro | ||
Punjabi ਵਿਦੇਸ਼ੀ | ||
Quechua extranjero | ||
Romanian străin | ||
Russian иностранный | ||
Samoan tagata ese | ||
Sanskrit विदेशः | ||
Scots Gaelic cèin | ||
Sepedi ntle | ||
Serbian страни | ||
Sesotho osele | ||
Shona mutorwa | ||
Sindhi پرڏيهي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) විදේශ | ||
Slovak zahraničné | ||
Slovenian tuje | ||
Somali shisheeye | ||
Spanish exterior | ||
Sundanese asing | ||
Swahili kigeni | ||
Swedish utländsk | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dayuhan | ||
Tajik хориҷӣ | ||
Tamil வெளிநாட்டு | ||
Tatar чит ил | ||
Telugu విదేశీ | ||
Thai ต่างประเทศ | ||
Tigrinya ናይ ወፃእ | ||
Tsonga hlampfa | ||
Turkish dış | ||
Turkmen daşary ýurtly | ||
Twi (Akan) hɔhoɔ | ||
Ukrainian іноземні | ||
Urdu غیر ملکی | ||
Uyghur چەتئەللىك | ||
Uzbek chet el | ||
Vietnamese ngoại quốc | ||
Welsh tramor | ||
Xhosa welinye ilizwe | ||
Yiddish פרעמד | ||
Yoruba ajeji | ||
Zulu owangaphandle |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Afrikaans "vreemd" can also mean "strange" or "unusual", possibly due to its historical association with foreign things or people. |
| Albanian | The word "i huaj" can also refer to something that is "strange" or "unusual." |
| Amharic | "ባዕድ" refers in some Ethiopian cultures to a specific person that is considered an "outsider," particularly in the northern parts of Ethiopia, and is also considered a term of respect towards strangers and visitors. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "أجنبي" (foreign) derives from the root word "جنب" (side), hence an "أجنبي" is etymologically someone from another side or place from you |
| Armenian | The word "օտար" in Armenian has alternate meanings of "other" and "strange". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "xarici" in Azerbaijani can also refer to "external" or "outward". |
| Basque | The word "atzerritarra" in Basque can also refer to "aliens" or "extra-terrestrials". |
| Bengali | The word 'বিদেশী' (foreign) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'विदेश' (videsha), which means 'from a different country'. |
| Bosnian | The term 'strani' is etymologically related to 'strah', meaning fear, suggesting a connection between foreignness and a perceived threat. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word `чуждестранен` (`chuzhdestranen`) derives from `чужд` (`chuzhd`), meaning `foreign`, and `страна` (`strana`), meaning `country`. |
| Catalan | The word "estranger" in Catalan derives from the Latin word "extraneus", meaning "outsider" or "stranger". |
| Cebuano | It also refers to places outside of Cebu City and rural areas. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "国外" is used in China and Taiwan, but it can also refer to the countryside within a specific country. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In addition to its common usage, the term 國外 may also refer to the area outside the borders of the Chinese Empire or to territories that were not directly under Chinese control. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "stranieri" can also mean "not from the same village" or "outsider". |
| Croatian | The Croatian word 'strani' comes from the Proto-Slavic '*storna', which also means 'side' or 'direction'. |
| Czech | The word "zahraniční" derives from the Old Czech word "za hraničním," meaning "beyond the border." |
| Danish | "Udenlandsk" (foreign) is the opposite or inverse form of "indenlandsk" (national). |
| Dutch | The word "buitenlands" originates from the Middle Dutch word "butenlant", meaning "outside the country". |
| Esperanto | Fremda derives from German and translates to "foreign", but as in "strange" or "exotic" rather than "not from this place". |
| Estonian | The word "võõras" originally meant "unfamiliar" or "unknown" rather than specifically "foreign". |
| Finnish | "Ulko" is a shortened version of "ulkopuoli" (outside) and "mainen" means pertaining to a place or country. |
| French | The French word "étranger" originally meant "outsider" or "stranger", and only later came to mean "foreigner". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word for "foreign" comes from the Old Frisian word "fremd" or "fremt" which meant both "foreign and "strange." |
| Galician | The word "estranxeiro" can also mean "stranger" in Galician. |
| Georgian | The word “უცხოელი” (ukhoeli, “stranger”) comes from two Proto-Kartvelian roots “ukho” (“other”) and “eli” (a suffix indicating a person), meaning “other person”. |
| German | "Fremde" (fem.) as a noun can also mean "stranger" or even "alien" and is related to the English word "friend" and the archaic "fremd" (masc.) which meant "kind, amiable." |
| Greek | "Ξένο" also means "guest" or "stranger" in Greek, sharing a root with "ξενώνας" (guesthouse). |
| Gujarati | The word "વિદેશી" (videshi) in Gujarati can also mean "alien" or "stranger". |
| Haitian Creole | The word 'etranje' in Haitian Creole has roots in the French word 'étranger' and also means 'unknown' or 'mysterious'. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "baƙo" also means "guest" or "stranger". |
| Hawaiian | In the 19th century, the term "haole" was extended to American missionaries, and today, it can refer to any non-native of Hawaii |
| Hebrew | The word "זָר" can also mean "strange" or "unusual" in Hebrew. |
| Hindi | The word "विदेश" is derived from the Sanskrit word "videśa", which means "strange country". |
| Hmong | The term "tuaj txawv tebchaws" can also refer to people from different ethnic groups within the Hmong community. |
| Hungarian | "Külföldi" is derived from the Turkish word "kül" (outside, alien) and the Hungarian suffix "-földi" (of, belonging to). |
| Icelandic | The word "erlendum" is also used to describe something that is unusual or mysterious |
| Igbo | "Onye ala ọzọ" is also used to describe someone who is not a member of a particular group or community. |
| Indonesian | The word "asing" in Indonesian originated from the Sanskrit word "acina" meaning "strange". |
| Irish | Eachtrach shares a root with "each" meaning "horse" due to the importance of horses in ancient Irish trade and mercenary work. |
| Italian | The word "straniero" derives from the Latin "extraneus," meaning "from outside." |
| Japanese | 外国人 (gaikokujin) literally means "person of an outside country" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | The word wong asing (foreign) derives from the combination of "wong" (person) and "asing" (strange). |
| Kannada | The word "ವಿದೇಶಿ" (vidēśi) can also be used to refer to something that is not from one's own country or culture. |
| Kazakh | The word "шетелдік" (foreign) in Kazakh also refers to "overseas" and "abroad". |
| Khmer | "បរទេស" can also mean "the place where one is not born and raised", "a foreign country", or "a foreign land." |
| Korean | The word 외국 can also refer to a place that is not one's own country, or to a person who is not from one's own country. |
| Kurdish | The word "xerîb" can also mean "stranger" or "guest" in Kurdish, and is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*ghosti-," meaning "guest" or "stranger." |
| Kyrgyz | "Чет элдик" is also a term for a person who is not a native speaker of Kyrgyz. |
| Latin | In ancient Roman law, "aliena" described objects or persons that had been consecrated as offerings to the gods. |
| Latvian | The word "ārzemju" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂erǵʰ- "other, foreign". |
| Lithuanian | The word "užsienio" is derived from the Lithuanian word "užsienis", which means "beyond the border". |
| Luxembourgish | The word "auslännesch" also means "exotic" or "rare" when used to describe animals or plants. |
| Macedonian | The word "странски" can also refer to someone who is not a native of a particular place. |
| Malagasy | "VAHINY" can also mean "visitor" or "guest" in Malagasy. |
| Malay | Asing is a Proto-Austronesian term referring to something from beyond one's community, tribe or sphere of familiarity. |
| Malayalam | The word 'വിദേശ' (vidēśa) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'विदेश' (vidēśa), which means 'different country'. |
| Maltese | It is derived from a Semitic root *BRN and is cognate with the Arabic word براني (barrānī), meaning "foreign, external". |
| Maori | Derived from the Proto-Polynesian word *taviki, meaning "companion" or "associate". |
| Marathi | "Paradeshi" has an interesting alternate connotation of being a "stranger", especially a person who does not come from the same place as you. |
| Mongolian | 'Гадаад' derives from the Mongolian term 'гадаа' translating as 'outside' or 'exterior'. As a noun, it is synonymous with the Mongolian word 'ажлаас' (work), and it may also refer to the 'abroad'. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | A second interpretation of the word in Burmese (literally "nation-different") suggests that people from other countries are like different nations of people |
| Nepali | The word 'विदेशी' can also mean 'alien' or 'strange' in Nepali, but it is primarily used to refer to foreigners or foreign things. |
| Norwegian | The words 'fremmed' (foreign) and 'frem' (strange, unusual) have etymological connections and sometimes overlap in modern usage. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "yachilendo" can also mean "stranger" or "alien". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "بهرني" can also refer to an outsider, someone not from the local community or an uncultured or uncivilized person. |
| Persian | The Persian word "خارجی" can also mean "external" or "alienated". |
| Polish | The word obcy can also mean strange, unfamiliar, or outlandish. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "estrangeiro" can also mean "strange" or "odd". |
| Romanian | The word "străin" also means "strange" or "unusual" in Romanian. |
| Russian | The word "иностранный" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "ино" (other) and the Russian word "страна" (country), meaning "from another country". |
| Samoan | "Tagata ese" can also mean "outsider," or someone who doesn't belong to the village or area where they live. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic word "cèin" is also used to refer to something strange, unusual, or otherworldly. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "страни" can also refer to "foreigners" or "foreign countries". |
| Sesotho | The word "osele" is derived from the Zulu word "izizwe" meaning "nation". |
| Shona | The word 'mutorwa' can also refer to a non-Shona speaker or a person from another tribe. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "پرڏيهي" (foreign) is derived from the Sanskrit word "परदेशी" (stranger), which in turn is rooted in the Proto-Indo-European word "*pero-" (far). |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The term is also used as an honorific in the context of a foreign dignitary. |
| Slovak | The word "zahraničné" is derived from the Slavic root "*zor" (meaning "outside, beyond") and the suffix "-an" (meaning "pertaining to"). |
| Slovenian | In older Slovene, "tuje" also meant "unknown" or "of unknown origin". |
| Somali | "Shisheeye" is derived from the Arabic word "shay" meaning "thing" or "object". |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "exterior" can also refer to the outside of a building or object. |
| Sundanese | The word "asing" can also mean "different" or "strange". |
| Swahili | Kigeni derives from the root '-geni' (to be born), implying 'not from here'. |
| Swedish | "Utländsk" can also refer to a person from another Swedish province, or to something strange, novel, or unfamiliar. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Dayuhan can also mean "guest" in Tagalog, as well as "stranger." |
| Tajik | The word "хориҷӣ" can also mean "alien", "external" or "outsider" in Tajik. |
| Telugu | "విదేశీ "is one of those words in Telugu that doesn’t really have a direct translation into English and has a multitude of meanings that are slightly different depending on its context |
| Thai | In Thai "ต่างประเทศ" can also mean "countryside". |
| Turkish | Dış can also mean "outside" or "other", and is often used in the names of restaurants and stores. |
| Ukrainian | The word "іноземні" (foreign) is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*inъ" (other) and the suffix "-zemъ" (land). |
| Urdu | The Urdu word 'غیر ملکی' ('foreign') originally referred to residents from other Muslim lands, but gradually expanded to include all outsiders. |
| Uzbek | The word "chet el" can also mean "non-Muslim" or "infidel" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | "Ngoại quốc" (foreign) in Vietnamese literally translates to "outside the country". |
| Welsh | The etymology of "tramor" is unclear, but it may be related to the Latin "transmarinus" or the French "outre-mer", both meaning "overseas". |
| Xhosa | "Welinye ilizwe" can also refer to something that is strange or unusual. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פרעמד" can also refer to an outsider or someone unfamiliar. |
| Yoruba | In the Igbo language, "ajeji" specifically refers to those hailing from Igbo states outside of one's own. |
| Zulu | Owangaphandle derives from the Proto-Bantu word *pangali, meaning "other tribe". It can also refer to a person who doesn't belong to one's own clan. |
| English | The word 'foreign' derives from the Latin 'foraneus', meaning 'outside' or 'belonging to another country'. |