former

form·er ¹  (fôrmr)

n.

1. One that forms; a maker or creator: a former of ideas.

2. A member of a school form: a fifth former.

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for·mer ²  (fôrmr)

adj.

1.

a. Occurring earlier in time.

b. Of, relating to, or taking place in the past.

2. Coming before in place or order; foregoing.

3. Being the first of two mentioned.

4. Having been in the past: a former ambassador.

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[Middle English, comparative of forme, first, from Old English forma; see per¹ in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: Grammarians have often insisted that the phrases the former and the latter should be used only to refer to the first of two things and the second of two things, respectively, as in Ernest L. Thayer's "Casey at the Bat": "But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake, and the former was a lulu and the latter was a fake." It is easy to find violations of this rule in the works of good writers; nonetheless, many readers feel uneasy when the words are used in enumerations of more than two things, just as they would feel uneasy over the similar incorrect use of a comparative in a sentence such as Her boys are 7, 9, and 13; only the younger was born in California.

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former¹

adj (prenominal)

1. belonging to or occurring in an earlier time former glory

2. having been at a previous time a former colleague

3. denoting the first or first mentioned of two in the former case

4. near the beginning

n

the former the first or first mentioned of two: distinguished from latter

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former²

n

1. a person or thing that forms or shapes

2. (Engineering / Electrical Engineering) Electrical engineering a tool for giving a coil or winding the required shape, sometimes consisting of a frame on which the wire can be wound, the frame then being removed

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	former - the first of two or the first mentioned of two; "Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today" first, number one - the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first" latter - the second of two or the second mentioned of two; "Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the latter is remembered today"
Adj.	1.	former - 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" latter - referring to the second of two things or persons mentioned (or the last one or ones of several); "in the latter case"
	2.	former - belonging to some prior time; "erstwhile friend"; "our former glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her quondam lover" one-time, onetime, quondam, sometime, erstwhile, old past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year"
	3.	former - (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" previous, late past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year"
	4.	former - belonging to the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times" early, other past - earlier than the present time; no longer current; "time past"; "his youth is past"; "this past Thursday"; "the past year"

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former

adjective

1. previous, one-time, erstwhile, ex-, late, earlier, prior, sometime, foregoing, antecedent, anterior, quondam, whilom (archaic), ci-devant (French) He pleaded not guilty to murdering his former wife.
previous coming, following, future, current, succeeding, latter, subsequent, ensuing

2. past, earlier, long ago, bygone, old, ancient, departed, old-time, long gone, of yore Remember him as he was in former years.
past future, present, current, modern, present-day

3. aforementioned, above, first mentioned, aforesaid, preceding, foregoing Most people can be forgiven for choosing the former.

Translations

former [ˈfɔːməʳ]

A. ADJ

1. (= earlier, previous) → antiguo; [chairman, wife etc] → ex
a former pupil → un antiguo alumno
in former days → antiguamente
the former president → el ex-presidente OLD

2. (of two) → primero
your former idea was better → tu primera idea fue mejor

B. PRON night and day, the former dark, the latter light → la noche y el día, aquélla oscura y éste lleno de luz

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former [ˈfɔː^rmə^r]

adj (before n) → ancien(ne)
a former pupil → un ancien élève
the former Prime Minister → l'ancien Premier ministre
the former president → l'ex-président
the former Yugoslavia → l'ex-Yougoslavie
the former Soviet Union → l'ex-Union soviétique
in former times → autrefois
in former years → par le passé

n
the former ... the latter → le premier ... le second, celui-là ... celui-ci

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former

adj

(= previous) president, chairman, employee etc → früher, ehemalig; home, prison, school, hospital etc → ehemalig; country, place, strength, authority etc → früher; times, years, days → vergangen; former President Richard Nixon → der frühere or ehemalige Präsident Richard Nixon; his former wife → seine Exfrau; her former husband → ihr Exmann m; the radicals of former days → die Radikalen der Vergangenheit; in former years or times or days → in früheren Zeiten

(as opposed to latter) the former option/alternative etc → die erstere Möglichkeit/Alternative etc

n the former → der/die/das erstere; (more than one) → die ersteren pl; of these two theories I prefer the former → von diesen beiden Theorien ziehe ich (die) erstere vor

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former [ˈfɔːməʳ]

1. adj

a. (earlier, previous) → vecchio/a (before n), precedente; (chairman, wife) → ex inv (before n)
in former days → nei tempi passati, in altri tempi
the former president → l'ex presidente
the former Yugoslavia/Soviet Union → l'ex Jugoslavia/Unione Sovietica

b. (of two) → primo/a

2. pron the former ( ...the latter) → il/la primo/a (... l'ultimo/a), quello/a... (questo/a)

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former [ˈfɔːməʳ]

1. adj

a. (earlier, previous) → vecchio/a (before n), precedente; (chairman, wife) → ex inv (before n)
in former days → nei tempi passati, in altri tempi
the former president → l'ex presidente
the former Yugoslavia/Soviet Union → l'ex Jugoslavia/Unione Sovietica

b. (of two) → primo/a

2. pron the former ( ...the latter) → il/la primo/a (... l'ultimo/a), quello/a... (questo/a)

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former

adj former [ˈfoːmə]

of an earlier time In former times people did not travel so much. vroeëre سابِق бивш dřívější tidligere früher πρώην, προηγούμενος antiguo, anterior endine پیشین؛ قدیم aiempi ancien קוֹדֵם भूतपूर्व prošli, prijašnji korábbi dulu fyrri precedente, passato 前の 이전의 ankstyvesnis agrākais; bijušais terdahulu vroeger tidligere, fordums dawny, poprzedni passado de altădată прежний bývalý prejšnji raniji förgången ก่อน geçmiş, eski 從前的 колишній; попередній گزشتہ trước; cũ;nguyên 从前的

adv formerly

in earlier times Formerly this large town was a small village. voorheen سابِقا، فيما مَضى преди dříve tidligere früher παλιότερα, άλλοτε antiguamente vanasti در گذشته ennen autrefois לְשֶׁעָבַר पहले prije, nekada azelőtt dulunya forðum, fyrrum un tempo, in passato 昔は 이전에 anksčiau agrāk; senāk dulunya vroeger før i tida, tidligere poprzednio antigamente cândva прежде predtým prej ranije förr, förut ก่อนหน้านี้ eskiden 從前 раніше, колись ماضی میں trước đây; thuở xưa 从前

the former

the first of two things mentioned We visited America and Australia, staying longer in the former than in the latter. eersgenoemde المَذْكور اوَّلا първото от двете první førstnævnte; den første der/die/das Erstgenannte ο πρώτος (από τους δύο) el primero esimesena mainitu اولی ensin mainittu le premier הַרִאשוֹן पूर्व prvospomenuti, prvi (od dvoga) előbbi yang pertama fyrrnefndur il primo 前者 전자, 먼저 언급한 것 pirmasis pirmais (no iepriekšminētajiem) yang pertama de eerste førstnevnte, den første pierwszy (z dwóch wymienionych) primeiro primul первый (из двух) (uvedený ako) prvý, skôr spomínaný prvi (od dveh) prethodni den förre (förra), det (de) förra กรณีแรก ilki, birincisi 前者 перший دو مذکورہ اشیا میں سے پہلی cái trước; người trước 前者

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former → سابق dřívější tidligere ehemalig πρώην antiguo entinen ancien bivši ex 以前の 전의 voormalig foregående poprzedni anterior бывший föregående ก่อนหน้านี้ eski trước 以前的