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 (not comparable)

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:

     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.

   • 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:

     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.

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.

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

Alternative forms

• fmr, fmr. (abbreviation)

Derived terms

• formerly
• formerness
• former Soviet Union
• former times
• former USSR
• former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
• shadow of one's former self

Translations

previous

Arabic: سَابِق (sābiq) Belarusian: былы́ (bylý), бы́ўшы (býwšy) Bengali: সাবেক (bn) (śabek), প্রাক্তন (bn) (prakton), ভূতপূর্ব (bn) (bhutopurbo), পূর্বতন (bn) (purboton) Bulgarian: бивш (bg) (bivš), ми́нал (bg) (mínal), преди́шен (bg) (predíšen) Catalan: anterior (ca), previ (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 前 (zh) (qián) Czech: bývalý (cs) Danish: tidligere (da), 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 Hindi: पूर्ववर्ती (hi) (pūrvavartī) 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) (jeon-ui) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: پێشوو (pêşû), بەرتر (bertir) Latin: anterior, quondam Macedonian: претходен (prethoden), бивш (bivš) Malay: bekas (ms), mantan (ms) Manchu: ᠨᡝᠨᡝᡥᡝ (nenehe), ᠨᡝᠨᡝᠮᡝ (neneme) 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) Uzbek: sobiq (uz) Vietnamese: cũ (vi), xưa (vi), nguyên (vi) (when modifying a social or political position), cựu (vi)

first of aforementioned two items

Belarusian: пе́ршы (be) (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 Hindi: पूर्ववर्ती (hi) (pūrvavartī) 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 (pl) (z dwóch) Portuguese: primeiro (pt), aquele (pt) m Russian: пе́рвый (ru) (pérvyj) Slovene: prvi (sl) Spanish: primero (es) m, primera (es) f, aquello (es) m, aquella (es) f, aquel (es) n Swedish: föregående (sv) Thai: ก่อนหน้า Turkish: ilk (tr) Ukrainian: пе́рший (uk) (péršyj) Vietnamese: trước (vi)

See also

• ex-

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English formere. By surface analysis, 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 British, 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

Anagrams

• Reform, re-form, reform

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

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, borrowed from Latin fōrmāre (“to form”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ.me/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (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, on	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, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (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.

Latin

Verb

fōrmer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of fōrmō

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

former m or f

1. indefinite plural of form

Verb

former

1. present of forme

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

former f

1. indefinite plural of form

Swedish

Noun

former

1. indefinite plural of form

Anagrams

• reform