former

English

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)mə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

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.

Adjective

former (comparative form only)

1. Previous.

   Synonyms: erstwhile, sometime, whilom, wont-to-be; see also Thesaurus:former

   Antonyms: next; see also Thesaurus:subsequent

   A former president;  the former East Germany

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], 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.

   • 2007, Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World:

     The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa.

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

   Antonym: latter

   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.

Translations

previous

• Arabic: سَابِق‎ (sābiq)
• Belarusian: былы́ (bylý), бы́ўшы (býŭšy)
• Bengali: প্রাক্তন (praktôn), ভূতপূর্ব (bhutôpurbô), পূর্বতন (purbôtôn)
• Bulgarian: бивш (bg) (bivš), ми́нал (bg) (mínal), преди́шен (bg) (predíšen)
• Catalan: anterior (ca), previ
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前 (zh) (qián)

• Czech: bývalý (cs)
• Danish: tidligere, forhenværende
• 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 (de), vorig (de), früher (de), vorherig (de), vormalig (de), alt (de)
• Greek: πρώην (el) (próin)

  Ancient: πρότερος (próteros)

• Higaonon: daan
• 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) (ʼaʼdət)
• Korean: 전의 (ko) (jeonui)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پێشوو‎ (pêşû), بەرتر‎ (bertir)

• Latin: anterior

• Macedonian: претходен (prethoden), бивш (bivš)
• Malay: bekas, mantan
• Maori: o mua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forhenværende (no), tidligere (no)

  Nynorsk: førverande, tidlegare

• Occitan: anterior (oc)
• Pashto: پخوانی‎ (ps) (pëxwânay)
• Persian: سابق‎ (fa) (sâbeq), قدیم‎ (fa) (qadim), اسبق‎ (fa) (asbaq)
• Polish: były (pl)
• Portuguese: anterior (pt), ex- (pt)
• Russian: бы́вший (ru) (bývšij), пре́жний (ru) (préžnij), предыду́щий (ru) (predydúščij) (previous)
• Scots: umwhile
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пре́тходан, би̑вшӣ

  Roman: préthodan (sh), bȋvšī (sh)

• Slovak: bývalý
• Slovene: prejšnji, bivši
• Spanish: anterior (es), antiguo (es)
• Swedish: före detta (sv), forna (sv), förra (sv)
• Tajik: пешина (pešina)
• 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: коли́шній (uk) (kolýšnij)
• Vietnamese: cũ (vi), xưa (vi), nguyên (vi) (when modifying a social or political position)

first of aforementioned two items

• Belarusian: пе́ршы (pjéršy)
• Bulgarian: преди́шен (bg) (predíšen), пръв (bg) (prǎv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 前者 (zh) (qiánzhě)

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

  Bokmål: førstnevnt

• Persian: اولی‎ (fa) (avvali)
• Polish: pierwszy (z dwóch)
• Portuguese: primeiro (pt), aquele (pt) m
• Russian: пе́рвый (ru) (pérvyj)
• Slovene: prvi (sl)
• Spanish: primero (es) m, primera (es) f, aquello (es), aquella (es)
• Swedish: föregående (sv)
• Thai: ก่อนหน้า
• Turkish: ilk (tr)
• Ukrainian: пе́рший (uk) (péršyj)
• Vietnamese: trước (vi)

Alternative forms

• fmr, fmr. (abbreviations)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English formere; synchronically 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

• Reform, re-form, reform

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Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈfɒːmɐ]

Noun

former c

1. indefinite plural of form

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈfɒːmɐ]

Verb

former

1. present of forme

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [fʌˈmeɐ̯ˀ]

Verb

former or formér

1. imperative of formere

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French

Etymology

From Old French, borrowed from Latin fōrmō (“to 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)

infinitive	simple	former
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	formant /fɔʁ.mɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		formé /fɔʁ.me/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ils, elles
(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 historic2	formai /fɔʁ.me/	formas /fɔʁ.ma/	forma /fɔʁ.ma/	formâmes /fɔʁ.mam/	formâtes /fɔʁ.mat/	formèrent /fɔʁ.mɛʁ/
	future	formerai /fɔʁ.mə.ʁe/	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 anterior2	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, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	forme /fɔʁm/	formes /fɔʁm/	forme /fɔʁm/	formions /fɔʁ.mjɔ̃/	formiez /fɔʁ.mje/	forment /fɔʁm/
	imperfect2	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
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	forme /fɔʁm/	—	formons /fɔʁ.mɔ̃/	formez /fɔʁ.me/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 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).

Related terms

• formation
• forme

Further reading

• “former”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Latin

Verb

fōrmer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of fōrmō

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

former m or f

1. indefinite plural of form

Verb

former

1. present 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.

Anagrams

• reform