foreign language
/fɔːɹɪn lɛŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/
"foreign-language" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“foreign language” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A language that is not widely or officially spoken in a particular place.
Corpus desk
Index EN-foreign-language · foreign language · English
foreign language · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | foreign language |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /fɔːɹɪn lɛŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “foreign language” in English
Rare enough to double-check
foreign language is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /fɔːɹɪn lɛŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for foreign language in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is foreign language, spelled F-O-R-E-I-G-N- -L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1A language that is not widely or officially spoken in a particular place.
- 2A language that is not one's native tongue.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how foreign language appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Irish courts will hear cases in English or Gaelic, but speakers of foreign languages must find an interpreter.
The children struggled in their Welsh lessons because they didn't have any experience of foreign languages.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.