overseas

English

Alternative forms

• oversea (British)

Etymology

From earlier oversea, equivalent to oversea +‎ -s. Compare West Frisian oerseesk, Dutch overzees, German Übersee, Danish oversøisk.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈsiːz/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈsiːz/
• Homophones: oversees
• Rhymes: -iːz

Adjective

overseas (not comparable)

1. Abroad.

   Synonyms: transmarine, (archaic) ultramarine

   Antonym: domestic

   Overseas branches of the company are doing well.

2. Used with ethnicities, nationalities, or religious affiliations: living (being resident) in a foreign country.

   Overseas Chinese communities exist in North and South America.

   • 2016 October 18, Stephen Curry, “Why the Higher Education and Research Bill must be amended”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     The reputations of our universities and our research base are already under threat because of the fallout from the EU referendum result, which is making the UK an unfriendlier place for overseas scholars and students, as well as cutting off access to an important stream of research funding and to a vibrant and well-developed ecosystem for collaborative work.

3. Across a sea; to or in an area across a sea.

   Her overseas trip went well.

Derived terms

• overseas cap
• overseas Chinese
• overseas territory

Translations

abroad

• Finnish: ulkomainen (fi)
• French: outre-mer (fr)
• German: Übersee-, im Ausland n, Auslands-
• Hebrew: מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם (he) (me'éver layyám)
• Igbo: ùfèsị
• Irish: thar lear
• Italian: estero (it)
• Japanese: 海外の (ja) (かいがいの, kaigai no)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oversjøisk

  Nynorsk: oversjøisk

• Portuguese: do exterior
• Russian: заграни́чный (ru) (zagraníčnyj), иностра́нный (ru) (inostránnyj), зарубе́жный (ru) (zarubéžnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: inostranstvo n
• Thai: โพ้นทะเล (th) (póon-tálee)

across a sea

• Catalan: ultramar (ca)
• Dutch: overzees (nl)
• Esperanto: transmarejo
• Finnish: merentakainen
• French: outre-mer (fr)
• Georgian: ზღვისიქითა (zɣvisikita), ზღვისიქითური (zɣvisikituri)
• Hungarian: tengerentúli (hu)
• Igbo: na ùfèsị mmiri
• Italian: oltremare (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oversjøisk

  Nynorsk: oversjøisk

• Polish: zamorski (pl)
• Portuguese: ultramarino (pt)
• Russian: замо́рский (ru) (zamórskij), заокеа́нский (ru) (zaokeánskij) (transoceanic)
• Spanish: ultramar (es), ultramarino (es) m, ultramaro m, transmarino m
• Thai: โพ้นทะเล (th) (póon-tálee), ข้ามทะเล (kâam-tálee)
• Turkish: denizaşırı (tr)

Adverb

overseas (not comparable)

1. Abroad.

   He emigrated and now lives overseas.

2. Across a sea; to an area across a sea.

   She travelled overseas.

   • 1988, R.E.M. (lyrics and music), “Orange Crush”, in Green:

     I've had my fun and now it's time to send / Your conscience overseas / Coming in fast / Over me

Translations

abroad

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 海外 (zh) (hǎiwài), 國外 / 国外 (zh) (guówài)

• Dutch: in het buitenland
• Finnish: ulkomailla (fi), ulkomaille
• French: à l’étranger
• Georgian: საზღვარგარეთ (sazɣvargaret)
• German: im Ausland
• Haitian Creole: aletranje
• Hebrew: מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם (he) (me'éver layyám)
• Irish: thar sáile, thar lear
• Italian: all'estero
• Japanese: 海外に (ja) (かいがいに, kaigai ni), 国外に (ja) (こくがいに, kokugai ni)
• Korean: 해외 (ko) (hae'oe), 국외 (gugoe)
• Maori: rāwāhi
• Portuguese: exterior (pt), estrangeiro (pt)
• Russian: за грани́цу (za granícu), за рубе́ж (za rubéž) (where to), за грани́цей (ru) (za granícej), за рубежо́м (ru) (za rubežóm) (where at)
• Scottish Gaelic: (location) thall thairis, an cèin, (movement) a-null thairis
• Swedish: utomlands (sv)
• Thai: โพ้นทะเล (th) (póon-tálee)
• Vietnamese: hải ngoại (vi), ngoài nước

across a sea

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 海外 (zh) (hǎiwài)

• Finnish: merten takana, merten taakse
• French: outre-mer (fr)
• Georgian: ზღვისიქით (zɣvisikit)
• German: in Übersee
• Hebrew: מעבר לים (he) (me'éver layám)
• Irish: thar sáile
• Italian: oltremare (it)
• Japanese: 海外に (ja) (かいがいに, kaigai ni)
• Korean: 해외 (ko) (hae'oe)
• Portuguese: além-mar (pt) m, ultramar (pt) m
• Russian: за́ мо́рем (zá mórem) (where at), за́ мо́ре (zá móre) (where to), че́рез мо́ре (čérez móre) (where to)
• Scottish Gaelic: thar sàile, thar chuain, (poetic) thar lear
• Thai: โพ้นทะเล (th) (póon-tálee), ข้ามทะเล (kâam-tálee)