former(n = noun.linkdef) - the first of two or the first mentioned of two; "Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today"
is a kind of first, number one
Antonym: latter
1. former(a = adj.all) - 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"
Antonym: latter
2. former(s = adj.all) erstwhile, old, one-time, onetime, quondam, sometime - belonging to some prior time; "erstwhile friend"; "our former glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her quondam lover"
3. former(s = adj.all) late, previous - (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"
4. former(s = adj.all) early, other - belonging to the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times"
1. One who forms; a maker; a creator. [1913 Webster]
2. A shape around which an article is to be shaped, molded, woven wrapped, pasted, or otherwise constructed. [1913 Webster]
1. Preceding in order of time; antecedent; previous; prior; earlier; hence, ancient; long past. [1913 Webster]
"For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age." [1913 Webster]
"The latter and former rain." [1913 Webster]
2. Near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument. [1913 Webster]
3. Earlier, as between two things mentioned together; first mentioned. [1913 Webster]
"A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critic; a man may be the former merely through the misfortune of an ill judgment; but he can not be latter without both that and an ill temper."
former, attrib.adj.
1 of or occurring in the past or an earlier period (in former times).
2 having been previously (her former husband).
3 (prec. by the; often absol.) the first or first mentioned of two (opp. LATTER).
former, n.
1 a person or thing that forms.
2 Electr. a frame or core for winding a coil on.
3 Aeron. a transverse strengthening member in a wing or fuselage.
4 (in comb.) a pupil of a specified form in a school (fourth-former).
N precedence, coming before, the lead, le pas, superiority, importance, antecedence, antecedency, anteriority, precursor, priority, precession, anteposition, epacme, preference, preceding, precedent, antecedent, anterior, prior, before, former, foregoing, beforementioned, abovementioned, aforementioned, aforesaid, said, precursory, precursive, prevenient, preliminary, prefatory, introductory, prelusive, prelusory, proemial, preparatory, before, in advance, seniores priores, prior tempore prior jure.
N priority, antecedence, anteriority, precedence, pre-existence, precession, precursor, the past, premises, prior, previous, preceding, precedent, anterior, antecedent, pre- existing, pre-existent, former, foregoing, aforementioned, before- mentioned, abovementioned, aforesaid, said, introductory, before, prior to, earlier, previously, afore, aforehand, beforehand, ere, theretofore, erewhile, ere then, ere now, before then, before now, erewhile, already, yet, beforehand, on the eve of, prior tempore prior jure.
N the past, past time, days of yore, times of yore, days of old, times of old, days past, times past, days gone by, times gone by, bygone days, old times, ancient times, former times, fore time, the good old days, the olden time, good old time, auld lang syne, eld, antiquity, antiqueness, status quo, time immemorial, distance of time, remote age, remote time, remote past, rust of antiquity, paleontology, paleography, paleology, paleozoology, palaetiology, archaeology, paleogeography, paleoecology, paleobotany, paleoclimatoogy, archaism, antiquarianism, medievalism, Pre-Raphaelitism, paleography, retrospect, retrospection, looking back, memory, laudator temporis acti, medievalist, Pre-Raphaelite, antiquary, antiquarian, archmologist, Oldbuck, Dryasdust, ancestry, past, gone, gone by, over, passed away, bygone, foregone, elapsed, lapsed, preterlapsed, expired, no more, run out, blown over, has-been, that has been, extinct, antediluvian, antebellum, never to return, gone with the wind, exploded, forgotten, irrecoverable, obsolete, former, pristine, quondam, ci-devant, late, ancestral, foregoing, last, latter, recent, over night, preterperfect, preterpluperfect, looking back, retrospective, retroactive, archaeological, paleo-, archaeo-, formerly, of old, of yore, erst, whilom, erewhile, time was, ago, over, in the olden time, anciently, long ago, long since, a long while, a long time ago, years ago, yesteryear, ages ago, some time ago, some time since, some time back, yesterday, the day before yesterday, last year, ultimo, lately, retrospectively, ere now, before now, till now, hitherto, heretofore, no longer, once, once upon a time, from time immemorial, from prehistoric times, in the memory of man, time out of mind, already, yet, up to this time, ex post facto, time was, the time has been, the time hath been, you can't go home again, fuimus Troes, fruit Ilium, hoc erat in more majorum, O call back yesterday, bid time return, tempi passati, the eternal landscape of the past, ultimus Romanorum, what's past is prologue, whose yesterdays look backward with a smile, Time with reference to a particular period.