外国

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 外国, read がいこく, combines outside 外 with country 国 to denote a country outside the reference nation.
• Basic usage: It denotes a country other than the speaker's or reference country, as in 外国の料理.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Scope and context
  • Which country counts as foreign changes with the reference point; it is not the proper name of one specific country.