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

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, Franklin Square, 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.

2. 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. The first car is a GMC model and the latter is a Japanese-made vehicle. I won the former on a game show.

Synonyms

• (previous): anterior, erstwhile, previous, prior, quondam, ex-
• See also Wikisaurus: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)
• 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) (’âteit)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: به‌رتر‏‎, پێشو‏‎

• Latin: anterior
• Malay: bekas, mantan
• 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, forna (sv), förra (sv)
• Telugu: ముందరి (te) (muṃdari), మునుపటి (te) (munupaṭi)
• Turkish: önce (tr), önceki (tr), eski (tr)
• 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 (ぜんしゃ, zensha)
• Korean: 전자 (ko) (jeonja)
• 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)
• 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

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: minutes · appear · thoughts · #661: former · twenty · lips · donations

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

Latin formō (“I form”)

Pronunciation

• 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 formé
gerund		en formant			en ayant formé
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.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	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the 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	Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	forme /fɔʁm/	—	formons /fɔʁ.mɔ̃/	formez /fɔʁ.me/	—
1literary tenses

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