former
Noun · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (4)
- referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several)“the novel was made into a film in 1943 and again in 1967; I prefer the former version to the latter one”Opposite latter
- belonging to some prior time“erstwhile friend”“our former glory”“the once capital of the state”“her quondam lover”Synonyms: erstwhileoldonetimeone-timequondamsometimeOpposite present, futureSimilar past
- (used especially of persons) of the immediate past“the former president”“our late President is still very active”“the previous occupant of the White House”Synonyms: latepreviousOpposite present, futureSimilar past
- belonging to the distant past“the early inhabitants of Europe”“former generations”“in other times”Synonyms: earlyotherOpposite present, futureSimilar past
Noun (1)
- the first of two or the first mentioned of two“Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today”Opposite latterType of first, number one
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective previous, earlier (as in "a former president")
- Spanish
- antiguo
- French
- ancien
- German
- ehemalig
- Italian
- precedente
- Portuguese
- anterior
- Turkish
- önceki
- Russian
- бы́вший bývšij
- Arabic
- سَابِق sābiq
- Chinese
- 以前的 yǐqián de
- Japanese
- 以前の izen no
21 more languages
- Dutch
- voormalig
- Polish
- były
- Swedish
- förra
- Greek
- πρώην próin
- Indonesian
- mantan
- Vietnamese
- nguyên
- Hungarian
- korábbi
- Portuguese (PT)
- anterior
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 前 qián
- Catalan
- anterior
- Czech
- bývalý
- Danish
- forhenværende
- Esperanto
- antaŭa
- Estonian
- endine
- Finnish
- entinen
- Georgian
- წინანდელი c̣inandeli
- Hebrew
- לשעבר leshe'avar
- Lithuanian
- buvęs
- Norwegian
- tidligere
- Slovak
- bývalý
- Slovenian
- bivši
Noun first of aforementioned two items
- Spanish
- primero
- French
- celui-là
- German
- der Erstere
- Italian
- primo
- Chinese
- 前者 qiánzhě
- Japanese
- 前者 zensha
- Korean
- 전자 jeonja
- Indonesian
- terdahulu
- Hungarian
- előbbi
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 前者 qiánzhě
2 more languages
- Finnish
- ensimmäinen
- Norwegian
- førstnevnt
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
1. One who forms; a maker; a creator.
2. Mechanics (a) A shape around which an article is to be shaped, molded, woven wrapped, pasted, or otherwise constructed. (b) A templet, pattern, or gauge by which an article is shaped. (c) A cutting die.
Origin: A compar. due to OE. formest. See Foremost.
1. Preceding in order of time; antecedent; previous; prior; earlier; hence, ancient; long past.
For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age.— Job. viii. 8.
The latter and former rain.— Hosea vi. 3.
3. Near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument.
3. Earlier, as between two things mentioned together; first mentioned.
A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critic; a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of an ill judgment; but he can not be latter without both that and an ill temper.— Alexander Pope
Synonyms: Prior; previous; anterior; antecedent; preceding; foregoing.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54