外～
がい～ · gai～ · JLPT N2 · noun
foreign ~
🌍 外 = outside; 外国 (gaikoku) = outside + country = foreign country
Words starting with 外 point outside the group: 外食 (gaishoku) = outside + eat = eating out, 外出 (gaishutsu) = outside + go out = going out. Sounds like 'guy': a foreign guy is a guy from outside.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.