Adjacent Words

Former definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FORM'ER, n. He that forms; a maker; an author.
FOR'MER, a. comp. deg.
1. Before in time; preceding another or something else in order of time; opposed to latter.
Her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled. Deutoronomy 24.
2. Past, and frequently ancient, long past.
For inquire,I pray thee, of the former age. Job 8.
3. Near the beginning; preceding; as the former part of a discourse or argument.
4. Mentioned before another.
A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critic; a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of want of judgment; but he cannot be the latter without both that and an ill temper.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several); "the novel was made into a film in 1943 and again in 1967; I prefer the former version to the latter one" [ant: latter]
2: belonging to some prior time; "erstwhile friend"; "our former glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her quondam lover" [syn: erstwhile, former, old, onetime, one- time, quondam, sometime]
3: (used especially of persons) of the immediate past; "the former president"; "our late President is still very active"; "the previous occupant of the White House" [syn: former, late, previous]
4: belonging to the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times" [syn: early, former, other] n
1: the first of two or the first mentioned of two; "Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today" [ant: latter]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from forme first, from Old English forma — more at foremost Date: 12th century 1. a. coming before in time b. of, relating to, or occurring in the past <former correspondence> 2. preceding in place or arrangement ; foregoing <the former part of the chapter> 3. first in order of two or more things cited or understood <of the two given, the former spelling is more common> <of the two spellings, the former is more common> 4. having been previously ; onetime <a former athlete> Synonyms: see preceding II. noun Date: 14th century 1. one that forms 2. chiefly British a member of a school form — usually used in combination <sixth former>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. attrib.adj. 1 of or occurring in the past or an earlier period (in former times). 2 having been previously (her former husband). 3 (prec. by the; often absol.) the first or first mentioned of two (opp. LATTER). Etymology: ME f. forme first, after FOREMOST 2. n. 1 a person or thing that forms. 2 Electr. a frame or core for winding a coil on. 3 Aeron. a transverse strengthening member in a wing or fuselage. 4 (in comb.) a pupil of a specified form in a school (fourth-former).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Former For"mer, a. [A compar. due to OE. formest. See Foremost.] 1. Preceding in order of time; antecedent; previous; prior; earlier; hence, ancient; long past. For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age. --Job. viii. 8. The latter and former rain. --Hosea vi. 3. 3. Near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument. 3. Earlier, as between two things mentioned together; first mentioned. A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critic; a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of an ill judgment; but he can not be latter without both that and an ill temper. --Pope. Syn: Prior; previous; anterior; antecedent; preceding; foregoing.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Former Form"er, n. 1. One who forms; a maker; a creator. 2. (Mech.) (a) A shape around which an article is to be shaped, molded, woven wrapped, pasted, or otherwise constructed. (b) A templet, pattern, or gauge by which an article is shaped. (c) A cutting die.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Former is used to describe someone who used to have a particular job, position, or role, but no longer has it. ...former President Richard Nixon... He pleaded not guilty to murdering his former wife. ADJ: ADJ n 2. Former is used to refer to countries which no longer exist or whose boundaries have changed. ...the former Soviet Union. ...the former Yugoslavia. ADJ: ADJ n 3. Former is used to describe something which used to belong to someone or which used to be a particular thing. ...the former home of Sir Christopher Wren. ...a former monastery. ADJ: ADJ n 4. Former is used to describe a situation or period of time which came before the present one. (FORMAL) He would want you to remember him as he was in former years. ADJ: ADJ n 5. When two people, things, or groups have just been mentioned, you can refer to the first of them as the former. Given the choice between a pure white T-shirt and a more expensive, dirty cream one, most people can be forgiven for choosing the former... ? latter PRON: the PRON

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

for'-mer:

The word in the sense of "maker," "framer," occurs only in Jer 51:19, "He is the former (from yatsar, "to form") of all things." The adjective, in the sense of preceding in the order of time, is commonly in Hob the translation of ri'shon, "first," "foremost" (Ge 40:13; Nu 21:26; De 24:4, etc.); in Greek of proteros (Eph 4:22; Heb 10:32; 1Pe 1:14); and in two cases (Ac 1:1; Re 21:4) of protos, where the Revised Version (British and American) has (in Ac in the margin) "the first." As denoting place or position the word occurs in the Old Testament in Zec 14:8, "the former sea" as translation of qadhmoni, "in front," where the Revised Version (British and American) has "eastern," i.e. the Dead Sea, in contrast with the Mediterranean, or western sea (compare Eze 47:18; Joe 2:20). For "former iniquities" (Ps 79:8) the Revised Version (British and American) has simply "the iniquities"; Other changes may be seen in Nu 6:12; Isa 65:7; Eze 36:11; Mic 4:8; Hag 2:3.

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Maker, framer, author, creator, constructer. II. a. 1. Previous, prior, anterior, antecedent, preceding, forgoing. 2. Quondam, ci-devant, late, old-time. 3. Past, gone by, bygone, foregone, previous. 4. First named, first mentioned.

Moby Thesaurus

aforementioned, aforenamed, aforesaid, ancient, antecedent, antediluvian, anterior, anticipatory, beforementioned, bygone, ci-devant, departed, earlier, early, elder, eldest, erstwhile, first, first-born, firstling, fore, foregoing, forementioned, forenamed, immemorial, last, late, latest, major, named, old, olden, older, oldest, once, onetime, past, precedent, preceding, precurrent, preexistent, prehistoric, previous, prime, primeval, primitive, primogenitary, prior, quondam, recent, said, same, senior, sometime, then, whilom