former

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈfɔɹmɚ/ UK /ˈfɔːmə/ See IPA manual

Freq #2266

Meanings

1

adj
Belonging to an earlier time; previous.

A former president attended the ceremony.
2

adj
The first of two things or people just mentioned.

Of coffee and tea, I prefer the former.
3

noun
The first of two things or people just mentioned.

Tom and Dick were both brave, but only the former is remembered today.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · belonging to an earlier... erstwhile previous

More antecedent anterior earlier ex foregone hitherto old olden past precedent preceding

Opposites

current subsequent

Word family

Forms formers

Derived forms beamformerformerlyformernessglassformermetalformersixth-formersporeformert-former

Related forms ex-formerly

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

former president
a person who held the office of president in the past

Adjective + noun
former queen
a woman who was queen in the past

Adjective + noun

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.

former Middle English forma Old English *frumô Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# former

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɔɹmɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɔːmə/
**Frequency rank:** 2266

## Meanings
1. Belonging to an earlier time; previous.
2. The first of two things or people just mentioned.
3. The first of two things or people just mentioned.

## Examples
- A former president attended the ceremony.
- Of coffee and tea, I prefer the former.
- Tom and Dick were both brave, but only the former is remembered today.

## Synonyms
- antecedent
- anterior
- earlier
- erstwhile
- ex
- foregone
- hitherto
- old
- olden
- past
- precedent
- preceding

## Antonyms
- current
- subsequent

## Derived Forms
- beamformer
- formerly
- formerness
- glassformer
- metalformer
- sixth-former
- sporeformer
- t-former

## Related Forms
- ex-
- formerly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: former
- Root: forma
- Root: *frumô

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Former is 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. In current use, the main senses are “Belonging to an earlier time; previous” and “The first of two things or people just mentioned”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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