# former
## English
### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˈfɔɹmɚ/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /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)
* 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.
* 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. (abbreviations)

##### Derived terms

* formerly
* formerness
* former Soviet Union
* former times
* former USSR
* former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

##### See also

* ex-

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English formere. By surface analysis, form +‎ -er.

#### 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 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: [ˈfɒːmɐ]

#### Noun

former c
* indefinite plural of form

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

IPA: [ˈfɒːmɐ]

#### Verb

former
* present of forme

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

IPA: [fʌˈmeɐ̯ˀ]

#### Verb

former or formér
* imperative of formere

## French
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fɔʁ.me/
* Audio:(file)

### Verb

former
* to form (generic sense)
* to shape (to make into a certain shape)
* to train; to educate

#### Related terms

* formation
* forme

### Further reading

* “former”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Latin
### Verb

fōrmer
* first-person singular present passive subjunctive of fōrmō

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Noun

former m or f
* indefinite plural of form

### Verb

former
* present of forme

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

former f
* indefinite plural of form

## Swedish
### Noun

former
* indefinite plural of form

### Anagrams

* reform