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former

adj
/ˈfɔɹmɚ/US/ˈfɔːmə/UK

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English former, comparative of forme (“first”), from Old English forma (“first”), descended from Proto-Germanic *frumô. Parallel to prior (via Latin), as comparative form from same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to first and fore (thence before), from Proto-Germanic.

  1. inherited from *frumô✻
  2. inherited from forma
  3. inherited from former

Definitions

  1. Previous.

    • A former president
    • the former East Germany

  2. First of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.

    • The former is a good idea but the latter is not.
    • We have two cars, a red one and a blue one. We won the former on a game show.
    • Bananas are tastier than parsnips, but the latter’s nutritional value is higher than the former’s.

  3. Someone who forms something

    Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

    • Dave was the former of the company.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.

      • The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

    2. Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).

      • Fifth-former.
      • Sixth-former.

The neighborhood

Derived

formerly, formerness, former Soviet Union, former times, former USSR, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, shadow of one's former self, beamformer, glassformer, metalformer, opinion former, pan former, sixth-former, sporeformer, T-former

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for former. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA