Foreign Office
6
3.5
- noun
- UK
:
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores
- The Foreign Office is responsible for managing the United Kingdom's international relations.
- the British Foreign Office
- the German Foreign Office
- the Foreign Office department
The big thing, I'm not giving them a free pass, but from a Foreign Office point of view, it's a huge breach of protocol.
- The big thing, I'm not giving them a free pass, but from a Foreign Office point of view, it's a huge breach of protocol.
- So the UK Foreign Office funds a ton of these as well, but it's one foreign policy, you know, BLOB there.
- Now I've got to say a thank you to the Foreign Office for doing this.
- It was the Foreign Office and more strongly, the weapons of the armies that talk to each other.
Examples
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During the crisis, the Foreign Office coordinated efforts to evacuate citizens from the affected area.
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The last thing the Foreign Office needs is another row with Russia, and the Home Office doesn't offer asylum to criminals.
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My father worked for the Foreign Office.
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Only this morning we appointed him to head the Foreign Office.
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If I were this government, I would put a lot more money into the Foreign Office and invest in soft power.
Academic text (2010) -
"When this is heard, please destroy all code papers," the Foreign Office instructed.
Academic text (1991) -
I'm secretary to Sir Norman Wood at the Foreign Office.
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Now I've got to say a thank you to the Foreign Office for doing this.
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But the Foreign Office was reluctant to act, so Phillips decided to negotiate directly with the king.
Academic text (1997) -
We could have the Foreign Office serve a writ on the Ambassador.
Synonyms
419
3.4
The United States government office that decides and manages relations with other countries
14
3.4
A United States government department that handles relations with other countries
1
4.3
A US government department that handles relations with other countries
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'government department responsible for foreign affairs' is directly derivable from combining 'foreign' (relating to other countries) with 'office' (an official post or department). This is a regular, compositional noun phrase used to name an official department and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand it.
Etymology
Foreign Office comes from the simple picture of an office that handles the foreign — officials meeting ambassadors and working on matters with other countries, so you can imagine a room for foreign business. That's why it means 'the government department that handles relations with other countries'.