former

English

Alternative forms

• fmr

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹmɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːmə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)mə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

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.

Adjective

former (not comparable)

1. Previous.

   A former president;  the former East Germany

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:

     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.

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

   The former is a good idea but the latter is not.

   I drive two vehicles, a Chevy Camaro and an AMC Gremlin. I won the former on a game show.

Synonyms

• erstwhile, sometime, whilom, wont-to-be
• See also Thesaurus:former

Antonyms

• (first of aforementioned two items): latter

Translations

previous

• Bulgarian: бивш (bg) (bivš), минал (bg) (minal), предишен (bg) (predišen)
• Catalan: previ
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前 (zh) (qián)

• Czech: bývalý m (such that it used to be)
• Danish: tidligere
• Dutch: voormalig (nl), gewezen (nl)
• Esperanto: antaŭa
• Faroese: fyrrverandi
• Finnish: edeltävä (fi), edellinen (fi), entinen (fi)
• French: précédent (fr), ancien (fr)
• Galician: anterior (gl)
• Georgian: წინანდელი (c̣inandeli), უწინდელი (uc̣indeli)
• German: ehemalig; vorig, früher
• Greek: πρώην (el) (próin)

  Ancient Greek: πρότερος (próteros)

• Hungarian: előző (hu), előbbi (hu), korábbi (hu), egykori (hu), hajdani (hu)
• Indonesian: mantan (id)
• Italian: precedente (it), anteriore (it), ex (it)
• Japanese: 前 (ja) (まえ, mae)

• Khmer: អតីត (km) (ʾɑtəyt)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: پێشوو‎‎ (pêşû), بەرتر‎‎ (bertir)

• Latin: anterior
• Malay: bekas, mantan
• Maori: o mua
• Pashto: پخوانی‎‎ (ps) (pëxwânay)
• Persian: سابق‎‎ (fa) (sâbeq), قدیم‎‎ (fa) (qadim), اسبق‎‎ (fa) (asbaq)
• Polish: były (pl)
• Portuguese: anterior (pt), ex (pt) m, f
• Russian: предыду́щий (ru) (predydúščij), бы́вший (ru) (bývšij), пре́жний (ru) (préžnij)
• Scots: umwhile
• Serbo-Croatian: prethodni (sh), bivši (sh)
• Spanish: anterior (es), antiguo (es)
• Swedish: före detta (sv), forna (sv), förra (sv)
• Telugu: ముందరి (te) (mundari), మునుపటి (te) (munupaṭi)
• Thai: เก่า (th) (gào), ก่อน (th) (gɔ̀ɔn), อดีต (th) (à-dìit)
• Turkish: önce (tr), önceki (tr), eski (tr)
• Ukrainian: колишній (uk) (kolyšnij)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

first of aforementioned two items

• Bulgarian: предишен (bg) (predišen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前者 (zh) (qiánzhě)

• Dutch: deze (nl), eerstgenoemde
• Finnish: ensimmäinen (fi)
• French: premier (fr), celui-là (fr)
• German: ersterer (de) m
• Hungarian: előbbi (hu)
• Indonesian: terdahulu (id)
• Italian: primo (it) m
• Japanese: 前者 (ja) (ぜんしゃ, zensha)

• Korean: 전자 (ko) (jeonja)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: førstnevnt

• Persian: اولی‎‎ (fa) (avvali)
• Polish: pierwszy (z dwóch)
• Portuguese: primeiro (pt), aquele (pt) m
• Russian: пе́рвый (ru) (pérvyj)
• Spanish: primero (es) m, primera (es) f, aquello (es), aquella (es)
• Swedish: föregående (sv)
• Thai: ก่อนหน้า
• Turkish: ilk (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Vietnamese: trước, cũ, xưa, nguyên

Etymology 2

form +‎ -er

Noun

former (plural formers)

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

   Dave was the former of the company.

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

   The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

3. (chiefly Britain, used in combinations) Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).

   Fifth-former

   Sixth-former.

Derived terms

• pan former

Anagrams

• re-form, reform

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Danish

Noun

former c

1. plural indefinite of form

Verb

former

1. present tense of forme

Verb

former or formér

1. imperative of formere

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French

Etymology

From Old French, borrowed from Latin formō, formāre (“I form”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ.me/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

former

1. to form (generic sense)
2. to shape (to make into a certain shape)
3. to train; to educate

Conjugation

Conjugation of former (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		former			avoir + past participle
gerund		en formant			en ayant + past participle
present participle		formant /fɔʁ.mɑ̃/
past participle		formé /fɔʁ.me/
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	forme /fɔʁm/	formes /fɔʁm/	forme /fɔʁm/	formons /fɔʁ.mɔ̃/	formez /fɔʁ.me/	forment /fɔʁm/
	imperfect	formais /fɔʁ.mɛ/	formais /fɔʁ.mɛ/	formait /fɔʁ.mɛ/	formions /fɔʁ.mjɔ̃/	formiez /fɔʁ.mje/	formaient /fɔʁ.mɛ/
	past historic1	formai /fɔʁ.me/	formas /fɔʁ.ma/	forma /fɔʁ.ma/	formâmes /fɔʁ.mam/	formâtes /fɔʁ.mat/	formèrent /fɔʁ.mɛʁ/
	future	formerai /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	formeras /fɔʁ.mə.ʁa/	formera /fɔʁ.mə.ʁa/	formerons /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɔ̃/	formerez /fɔʁ.mə.ʁe/	formeront /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	formerais /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	formerais /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	formerait /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/	formerions /fɔʁ.mə.ʁjɔ̃/	formeriez /fɔʁ.mə.ʁje/	formeraient /fɔʁ.mə.ʁɛ/
compound tenses	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior1	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	forme /fɔʁm/	formes /fɔʁm/	forme /fɔʁm/	formions /fɔʁ.mjɔ̃/	formiez /fɔʁ.mje/	forment /fɔʁm/
	imperfect1	formasse /fɔʁ.mas/	formasses /fɔʁ.mas/	formât /fɔʁ.ma/	formassions /fɔʁ.ma.sjɔ̃/	formassiez /fɔʁ.ma.sje/	formassent /fɔʁ.mas/
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect1	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
present		—	forme /fɔʁm/	—	formons /fɔʁ.mɔ̃/	formez /fɔʁ.me/	—
past		—	present imperative of avoir + past participle2	—	present imperative of avoir + past participle2	present imperative of avoir + past participle2	—
1 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).
2 Trudie Maria Booth (2005), French Verbs and Idioms, p. 88.

Related terms

• formation
• forme

Further reading

• “former” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Latin

Verb

former

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of formō

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

former m, f

1. indefinite plural of form

Verb

former

1. present tense of forme

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

former f

1. indefinite plural of form

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Swedish

Noun

former

1. indefinite plural of form