former
English
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)
- 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.
- 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
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first of aforementioned two items
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- 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
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Noun
former (plural formers)
- Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.
- Dave was the former of the company.
- An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.
- The brick arch was built using a wooden former.
- (chiefly Britain, used in combinations) Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).
- Fifth-former.
- Sixth-former.
Derived terms
Danish
French
Etymology
From Old French, borrowed from Latin formō, formāre (“I form”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɔʁ.me/
Audio (file)
Conjugation
Conjugation of former (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| present participle | formant /fɔʁ.mɑ̃/ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| past participle | formé /fɔʁ.me/ | ||||||
| infinitive | |||||||
| simple | former | ||||||
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| gerund1 | |||||||
| simple | formant /fɔʁ.mɑ̃/ | ||||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| 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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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 Only usable with 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). | |||||||
Further reading
- “former” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Latin
Norwegian Nynorsk
Swedish
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