Dictionary Definition
former adj
1 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" [syn: former(a)] [ant:
latter(a)]
2 belonging to some prior time; "erstwhile
friend"; "our former glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her
quondam lover" [syn: erstwhile(a),
former(a),
once(a),
onetime(a),
quondam(a),
sometime(a)]
3 (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" [syn: former(a),
late(a),
previous(a)]
4 of the distant past; "the early inhabitants of
Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times" [syn: early(a), former(a),
other(a)]
n : the first of two or the first mentioned of two; "Tom and Dick
were both heroes but only the former is remembered today" [ant:
latter]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Alternative spellings
Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -ɔː(r)mə(r)
Translations
previous
- Catalan: previ
- Czech: bývalý (such that it used to be)
- Dutch: voormalig
- Esperanto: antaŭa
- Faroese: fyrrverandi
- Finnish: edeltävä, edellinen, entinen
- French: celui-la, ce premier(e); précédent
- German: ehemalig; vorig, früher
- Greek: πρώην (próin), τέως (téos)
- Hungarian: előző, előbbi, korábbi, egykori, hajdani
- Italian: precedente, anteriore
- Japanese: 前, hiragana: まえ
- Kurdish: ,
- Polish: poprzedni
- Portuguese: anterior
- Spanish: anterior
- Telugu: ముందరి (muMdari), మునుపటి (munupaTi)
first of a list of two items
- Hungarian: előbbi
- Polish: pierwszy (z dwóch)
- ttbc Vietnamese: trước, cũ, xưa, nguyên
Anagrams
Extensive Definition
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 roll axis of
the aircraft. The formers establish the shape of the fuselage.
Formers are typically attached to longerons, which support the
skin of the aircraft. The Former-and-Longeron technique was adopted
from boat construction (also called stations and stringers), 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.
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
aforementioned, aforenamed, aforesaid, ancient, antecedent, antediluvian, anterior, anticipatory, beforementioned,
bygone, ci-devant,
departed, earlier, early, elder, eldest, erstwhile, first, first-born, firstling, fore, foregoing, forementioned, forenamed, immemorial, last, late, latest, major, named, old, olden, older, oldest, once, onetime, past, precedent, preceding, precurrent, preexistent, prehistoric, previous, prime, primeval, primitive, primogenitary, prior, quondam, recent, said, same, senior, sometime, then, whilom