Dictionary

foreignness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɔɹən.nəs/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree English foreign Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English foreignness From foreign + -ness.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign; exoticness, otherness.
   • The same courteous, automatic greeting […] which by now I understood as a nod to my foreignness, which was obvious to everyone everywhere. 2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 165:
   • The word “saudade” is being quite misused for what looks like to be a need for adding romantic foreignness to a story or an article. 2019 January 30, Naty, “Dear gringos, the Portuguese word “Saudade” doesn’t mean what you make it sound like”, in Naty's Bookshelf:
2. (countable) A characteristic that indicates foreignness.

Forms

Translations (12)

fr extranéité (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · fi vieraus (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · el ξενικότητα (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · fi vierasmaalaisuus (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · de Fremdheit (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · ru чу́ждость (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · es ajenidad (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · cmn 外來性 /外来性 (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · cmn 異物性 /异物性 (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · cmn 外國特色 /外国特色 (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · cs cizost (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign) · pt estrangeirismo (quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as foreign)