former meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

former

adj

US /ˈfɔɹmɚ/ · UK /ˈfɔːmə/

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.

Previous.

A former president
the former East Germany

3 more examples

At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.[…]In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa.2007, Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World:
Another ANC splinter party, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), led by former President Jacob Zuma appears to be on course to do well in KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern coastal province where Durban is located.2024 May 30, Sarah Dean and David McKenzie, “First results in South Africa’s election suggest it is heading for biggest political shift since apartheid”, in CNN:

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.

1 more example

Bananas are tastier than parsnips, but the latter’s nutritional value is higher than the former’s.

Synonyms: antecedent, anterior, earlier, erstwhile, ex, foregone, former, hitherto, old, olden, past, preceding, precedent, previous, prior, quondam, sometime, used-to-be, whilom
Antonyms: current, subsequent
Derived terms: formerly, formerness, former Soviet Union, former times, former USSR, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, shadow of one's former self
Related terms: ex-, formerly
Hyponyms: obsolete
Holonyms: sequence

former

noun

Etymology Inherited from Middle English formere. By surface analysis, form + -er.

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

Dave was the former of the company.

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

The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

UK, Used in combinations Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).

Fifth-former.
Sixth-former.

Derived terms: beamformer, glassformer, metalformer, opinion former, pan former, sixth-former, sporeformer, T-former, t-former