Why does former mean

Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your vocabulary with our question quiz! Love words? Need even more definitions? Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms The same, but different. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice? The awkward case of 'his or her'.

Take the quiz. Being the first of two mentioned. Preceding in time; earlier; past. First mentioned of two. Used with the , often without a noun. The former is a good idea but the latter is not. 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. The definition of former is something that happened in the past or a previously held role.

One that forms; a maker or creator. Origin of former. Do not use former or latter when you are writing about more than two things. Former and latter are words that sound old-fashioned to some people, and indeed they are very old words.

It is a relative of our modern word later. Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite websites. The Simpsons and Game of Thrones are both great shows, but I prefer the former. She thinks polar bears and hamsters are both cute, but I could only recommend the latter as a pet.