foreignisation
|for-eign-i-sa-tion|
🇺🇸
/ˌfɔrənəˈzeɪʃən/
🇬🇧
/ˌfɒrənəˈzeɪʃən/
preserve or make foreignness
Etymology
'foreignisation' originates from Modern English formation (the verb 'foreignise' / US 'foreignize'), where 'foreign' itself comes from Old French 'forain' (from Latin 'foraneus') meaning 'outside' or 'of the outside'.
'foreign' changed from Old French 'forain' (and Latin 'foraneus') into Middle English forms such as 'forayn'/'forain' and eventually became the modern English word 'foreign'; the verb 'foreignize/foreignise' was later formed from 'foreign' + '-ize/-ise', and the noun 'foreignisation' developed from that verb with the suffix '-ation'.
Initially it meant 'of or relating to the outside/stranger' (from Latin/Old French), but over time it evolved into the modern senses including 'making foreign' and the specialized translation-studies sense of 'preserving foreign elements in translation'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
in translation studies: a translation strategy that preserves the foreign features of the source text (cultural references, foreign names, syntax, etc.) so that the target reader is made aware of the text’s foreignness (opposite of domestication).
The translator opted for foreignisation to retain the source text's cultural references rather than smoothing them into the target language.
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Noun 2
the act or process of making something foreign or of rendering it as foreign (general sense: cultural, linguistic, social foreignization).
The foreignisation of the neighbourhood changed its shops, languages, and festivals over a decade.
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Last updated: 2025/10/29 00:50