främmande

The current form ending in -ande (normally indicating a present participle) was used already in Old Swedish, but the more original form främmad lives on in spoken dialects in Götaland (including Närke) and is sometimes used in written poetry. Traces back to Old Saxon fremithi and Old High German framadi, fremidi, meaning "removed from". Ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz. This in turn is derived from fram, with roots in the indo-European pro-, also related to English preposition from. ("Främmad", SAOB). Cognate with Norwegian fremmed, English fremd, German fremd, Dutch vreemd.

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främmande

1. strange (as a stranger), unknown, unfamiliar
2. foreign (from a different country, culture or religion)

främmande c, n

1. a stranger
2. a visitor, a guest (whether a stranger or acquaintance)

   vi får främmande ikväll

   we'll have visitors tonight

• It seems both common and neuter gender can be used, and the neuter singular (främmandet, vårt främmande) can be refer to a group of visitors.
• In spoken dialects (Götaland, including Närke, Östergötland), främmat is used, neuter form of främmad.

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