What does former mean?

Definitions for former
ˈfɔr mərfor·mer

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word former.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. formeradjective

    the first of two or the first mentioned of two

    "Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today"

  2. former(a)adjective

    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"

  3. erstwhile(a), former(a), old, onetime(a), one-time(a), quondam(a), sometime(a)adjective

    belonging to some prior time

    "erstwhile friend"; "our former glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her quondam lover"

  4. former(a), late(a), previous(a)adjective

    (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"

  5. early(a), former(a), other(a)adjective

    belonging to the distant past

    "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times"

Wiktionary

  1. formernoun

    Someone who forms something.

    Dave was the former of the company.

  2. formernoun

    An object used to form something.

    The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

  3. formernoun

    Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).

  4. formeradjective

    previous

  5. formeradjective

    first of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.

    The former is a good idea but the latter is not.

  6. Etymology: From former, comparative of forme, from forma.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Formeradjective

    whence former, and formost

    Etymology: from forma , Saxon, first;

    Thy air,
    Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first:
    —— A third is like the former. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critick: a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of an ill judgment; but he cannot be the latter without both that and an ill temper. Alexander Pope.

  2. Formernoun

    He that forms; maker; contriver; planner.

    Etymology: from form.

    The wonderful art and providence of the contriver and former of our bodies, appears in the multitude of intentions he must have in the formation of several parts for several uses. John Ray, on the Creation.

Wikipedia

  1. Former

    A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of the finished structure, as in an aircraft fuselage, or it may be removable, being using in the construction process and then discarded or re-used.

ChatGPT

  1. former

    Former is an adjective that refers to a person who held or occupied a particular position, status, or role in the past but no longer does. It indicates that someone or something used to be in a specific state or condition but has since changed.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Formernoun

    one who forms; a maker; a creator

  2. Formernoun

    a shape around which an article is to be shaped, molded, woven wrapped, pasted, or otherwise constructed

  3. Formernoun

    a templet, pattern, or gauge by which an article is shaped

  4. Formernoun

    a cutting die

  5. Formeradjective

    preceding in order of time; antecedent; previous; prior; earlier; hence, ancient; long past

  6. Formeradjective

    near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument

  7. Formeradjective

    earlier, as between two things mentioned together; first mentioned

Wikidata

  1. Former

    A former is a structural member of an aircraft fuselage, of which a typical fuselage has a series from the nose to the empennage, typically perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The primary purpose of formers is to establish the shape of the fuselage and reduce the column length of stringers to prevent instability. Formers are typically attached to longerons, which support the skin of the aircraft. The Former-and-Longeron technique was adopted from boat construction, and was typical of light aircraft built until the advent of structural skins such as fiberglass and other composite materials. Many of today's light aircraft, and homebuilt aircraft in particular, are still designed in this way. They are also found in the cores of potentiometers in which the resistive material is wrapped round.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Former

    form′ėr, adj. (comp. of fore) before in time or order: past: first mentioned.—adv. Form′erly, in former times: heretofore. [Formed late on analogy of M. E. formest by adding comp. suff. -er to base of A.S. forma, first, itself a superlative form.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. former

    The gunner's term for a small cylindrical piece of wood, on which musket or pistol cartridge-cases are rolled and formed. The name is also applied to the flat piece of wood with a hole in the centre used for making wads, but which is properly form.

Suggested Resources

  1. Former

    Former vs. Latter -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Former and Latter.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. FORMER

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Former is ranked #153769 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Former surname appeared 106 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Former.

    51.8% or 55 total occurrences were White.
    37.7% or 40 total occurrences were Black.
    7.5% or 8 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'former' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #532

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'former' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2720

How to pronounce former?

How to say former in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of former in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of former in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of former in a Sentence

  1. Chris Cuomo:

    Any confidence the world had in our country is now, ummm, gone, saigon, circa 1975, steroids, and former defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta, yeah, rightly calling it Biden’s Bay of Pigs and thanks to the actions of our derelict, low-functioning president … the absolute worst-case scenario has been playing out before our eyes.

  2. John Kerry:

    Every secretary of state, former secretary of state continues to meet with foreign leaders, goes to security conferences, goes around the world.

  3. William Tong:

    We have emails, text messages, telephone records, and former company insiders that we believe will prove a multi-year conspiracy to fix prices and divide market share for huge numbers of generic drugs, we will not stop until these companies and the individuals who orchestrated these schemes are held accountable.

  4. Karen Kaiser:

    After careful deliberation and exhausting our other options, The Associated Press is taking the necessary legal steps to gain access to these important documents, which will shed light on actions by the State Department and former Secretary Clinton, a presumptive 2016 presidential candidate, during some of the most significant issues of our time, the press is a proxy for the people, and AP will continue its pursuit of vital information that's in the public interest through this action and future open records requests.

  5. Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe:

    We are outraged by this former employee's actions and condemn the behavior she chose to engage in. These type of incidents are disgusting and will never be tolerated or pushed aside at Oakland County, behavior such as this brings tarnish to the badge and is not representative( of) all those in law enforcement who protect and serve.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

former#1#1753#10000

Translations for former

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"former." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/former>.

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