former
/ˈfɔɹmɚ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.28 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
noun
The first of aforementioned two items.
Example Sentences
- "A former president"
- "the former East Germany"
- "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."
- "The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa."
- "Another ANC splinter party, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), led by former President Jacob Zuma appears to be on course to do well in KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern coastal province where Durban is located."
- "The former is a good idea but the latter is not."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɔɹmɚ/
- British English: /ˈfɔːmə/
Usage
- British usage