Former in Different Languages
Discover 'Former' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Former
Afrikaans voormalige | ||
Albanian ish | ||
Amharic የቀድሞው | ||
Arabic السابق | ||
Armenian նախկին | ||
Assamese পূৰ্বৰ | ||
Aymara nayrüru | ||
Azerbaijani keçmiş | ||
Bambara kɔrɔlen | ||
Basque lehengoa | ||
Belarusian былы | ||
Bengali প্রাক্তন | ||
Bhojpuri जवन पहिले हो चुकल बा | ||
Bosnian bivša | ||
Bulgarian бивш | ||
Catalan antiga | ||
Cebuano kaniadto | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 前任的 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 前任的 | ||
Corsican anzianu | ||
Croatian prijašnji | ||
Czech bývalý | ||
Danish tidligere | ||
Dhivehi ކުރީގެ | ||
Dogri साबका | ||
Dutch voormalig | ||
English former | ||
Esperanto iama | ||
Estonian endine | ||
Ewe xoxo | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dating | ||
Finnish entinen | ||
French ancien | ||
Frisian earder | ||
Galician antiga | ||
Georgian ყოფილი | ||
German ehemalige | ||
Greek πρώην | ||
Guarani mboyvegua | ||
Gujarati ભૂતપૂર્વ | ||
Haitian Creole ansyen | ||
Hausa tsohon | ||
Hawaiian ma mua | ||
Hebrew לְשֶׁעָבַר | ||
Hindi भूतपूर्व | ||
Hmong qub | ||
Hungarian korábbi | ||
Icelandic fyrrverandi | ||
Igbo mbụ | ||
Ilocano napalabas | ||
Indonesian bekas | ||
Irish iar | ||
Italian ex | ||
Japanese 前者 | ||
Javanese tilas | ||
Kannada ಮಾಜಿ | ||
Kazakh бұрынғы | ||
Khmer អតីត | ||
Kinyarwanda mbere | ||
Konkani आदलो | ||
Korean 전자 | ||
Krio trade | ||
Kurdish pêşane | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێشووتر | ||
Kyrgyz мурунку | ||
Lao ອະດີດ | ||
Latin pristini | ||
Latvian bijušais | ||
Lingala ya kala | ||
Lithuanian buvęs | ||
Luganda edda | ||
Luxembourgish fréier | ||
Macedonian поранешен | ||
Maithili पहिलुका | ||
Malagasy teo aloha | ||
Malay bekas | ||
Malayalam മുൻ | ||
Maltese qabel | ||
Maori tuhinga o mua | ||
Marathi माजी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯍꯥꯟꯅꯒꯤ | ||
Mizo hmasa | ||
Mongolian хуучин | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ယခင် | ||
Nepali पहिले | ||
Norwegian tidligere | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) zakale | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପୂର୍ବ | ||
Oromo kan duraanii | ||
Pashto پخوانی | ||
Persian سابق | ||
Polish były | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) antigo | ||
Punjabi ਸਾਬਕਾ | ||
Quechua ñawpaq | ||
Romanian fost | ||
Russian бывший | ||
Samoan muamua | ||
Sanskrit पूर्व | ||
Scots Gaelic roimhe | ||
Sepedi peleng | ||
Serbian бивши | ||
Sesotho pele | ||
Shona zvekare | ||
Sindhi اڳوڻو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) හිටපු | ||
Slovak bývalý | ||
Slovenian nekdanji | ||
Somali hore | ||
Spanish ex | ||
Sundanese urut | ||
Swahili zamani | ||
Swedish före detta | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dating | ||
Tajik собиқ | ||
Tamil முன்னாள் | ||
Tatar элеккеге | ||
Telugu మాజీ | ||
Thai อดีต | ||
Tigrinya ናይ ቀደም | ||
Tsonga khale | ||
Turkish eski | ||
Turkmen öňki | ||
Twi (Akan) dada | ||
Ukrainian колишній | ||
Urdu سابق | ||
Uyghur بۇرۇن | ||
Uzbek avvalgi | ||
Vietnamese trước đây | ||
Welsh gynt | ||
Xhosa yangaphambili | ||
Yiddish ערשטע | ||
Yoruba tele | ||
Zulu okwedlule |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Old Dutch, _voormalige_ was equivalent to the modern Dutch _voormaals_. In modern Afrikaans this distinction is lost. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "ish" evolved from the Latin word "esse" (to be) |
| Amharic | The word "የቀድሞው" can also refer to "the predecessor" or "the previous one". |
| Arabic | The word "السابق" can also mean "the one who came before" or "the predecessor". |
| Armenian | The word "նախկին" in Armenian also means "previous" or "former" in a temporal sense, as in "the previous day" or "the former government." |
| Azerbaijani | The word "keçmiş" in Azerbaijani also means "gone", "departed", or "passed away". |
| Basque | In toponymy, the word "lehengoa" might indicate the name of a previous owner; in the sense of "former", in the Basque dialects this word is "lehen". |
| Belarusian | The word "былы" in Belarusian is an adjective meaning "past," but can also be used figuratively to mean "bygone," "obsolete," or "outdated." |
| Bengali | The word "প্রাক্তন" derives from the Sanskrit word "प्राक्" (prāk), meaning "before" or "prior to." |
| Bosnian | The word 'bivša' in Bosnian is a feminine form of the adjective 'bivši', which means 'former' and is used to describe someone who held a position or role in the past. |
| Bulgarian | Бивш also means 'one-time' and 'ex-' in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "antiga" also means "antique" or "old-fashioned". |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, the word "kaniadto" can also mean "previously" or "time past". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | “前任的”也可表示“前夫/妻”，与“前领导、前任官员”等意不同。 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | "前任的" 在中文 (繁體) 中有 "前" 的含義，也表示 "前任 (戀人)"。 |
| Corsican | The word "anzianu" is derived from the Latin "antianus," meaning "old" or "elderly." |
| Croatian | Prijašnji's Slavic root is also found in prije (“before”) and prijeđe (“transgress”) but also Russian proshly (“past”) or Polish przeszły (“passed”), meaning literally “gone by.” |
| Czech | The Czech word "bývalý" can also be used to describe something that has ceased to exist or no longer occurs. |
| Danish | The word 'tidligere' in Danish comes from the Old Norse word 'tíð' meaning 'time', and thus originally meant 'earlier', but has shifted meaning to 'former' over time. |
| Dutch | Voormalig, in Dutch, can also refer to "formerly" or "previously". |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "iama" also means "old", "ancient", or "of yore". |
| Estonian | Endine has its roots in an Indo-European root, |
| Finnish | Entinen is derived from the word "en(t)" meaning "that" and the diminutive suffix "-inen". |
| French | The French word "ancien" derives from the Latin word "ante" meaning "before" or "in front of". |
| Frisian | Frisian has a similar word, earder, which means both "earlier" and "former". |
| Galician | The word "antiga" in Galician can also refer to "elder" or "senior". |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "ყოფილი" is derived from the verb "იყო" (to be), and can also mean "existent" or "that which was." |
| German | "Ehemalige" is a composite of the prefix "ehe-" meaning "past" and "malig" meaning "time," and can alternately be translated as "bygone." |
| Greek | In Greek, "πρώην" signifies not only "former" but also "previous" or "last". |
| Haitian Creole | In addition to its primary meaning of "former," "ansyen" can also mean "old," "ancient," or "experienced." |
| Hausa | In Hausa, the word “tsohon” (former) means “old” when used to describe animals or inanimate objects. |
| Hawaiian | The word "ma mua" also means "face" or "front" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | לְשֶׁעָבַר can also be synonymous to בְּעֵבֶר (across), meaning "on the other side". |
| Hindi | The word "भूतपूर्व" comes from Sanskrit and literally means "being formerly". It can also be used to refer to a former life or incarnation. |
| Hmong | In the Hmong language, the word "qub" can also refer to "past" or "old fashioned". |
| Hungarian | The word "korábbi" may also mean "prior" or "earlier" in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | The word "fyrrverandi" can also mean "ex-husband" or "ex-wife" in Icelandic slang. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word 'mbụ' can also mean 'first' or 'previously', and is related to the word 'mbu' which means 'beginning'. |
| Indonesian | The word "bekas" also means "used" or "secondhand" in Indonesian, likely derived from the Dutch word "gebruikt" (used). |
| Irish | The word 'iar' in Irish also means 'after' or 'later', and is related to the English word 'after'. |
| Italian | The Italian word 'ex' can also refer to a spouse who is separated or divorced. |
| Japanese | In Japanese, "前者" also means "the person mentioned before" |
| Javanese | The word "tilas" also means "mark" or "trace". |
| Kannada | ಮಾಜಿ is also used as a prefix to indicate the past tense of a verb |
| Kazakh | Бұрынғы word is also used in the Kazakh language to refer to something that was previously known or familiar to someone, or something that is no longer new or recent. |
| Khmer | The term "អតីត" (former) originated from the Sanskrit word "अतीत" (atita), and is sometimes used in a temporal context to refer to "past" or "a long time ago". |
| Korean | "전자" (former) has an alternate meaning of "electricity". |
| Kurdish | Pêşane, meaning "forehead" in Kurdish, is likely derived from the Persian "pēšānī" or the Arabic "jaybīn". |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "мурунку" can also refer to an ancestor, forefather, or predecessor. |
| Lao | "ອະດີດ" can also mean "old", but is mostly used in an official sense. |
| Latin | Pristini also meant "the first" in the sense of rank, as well as "the ancients" or "the venerable". |
| Latvian | The word "bijušais" is derived from the verb "būt" (to be) and the suffix "-jušais," which indicates a past state or condition. |
| Lithuanian | The word buvęs is a present participle form of the verb būti, meaning "to be." It can also be used as an adjective to mean "former" or "previous." |
| Macedonian | In many Slavic languages, 'поранешен' has no connection with the notions of 'injury' or 'wound' that are present in the modern Macedonian word 'рана'. |
| Malagasy | "Teo aloha" is an alternate word for "teo aloha" which means "former" in Malagasy. |
| Malay | The word "bekas" also means "trace" or "mark" in Malay. |
| Malayalam | മുൻ is cognate to the Sanskrit word "पूर्व" and is also related to the English word "fore". |
| Maltese | The word "qabel" in Maltese can also mean "before" or "in front of." |
| Maori | Tuhinga o mua comes from "tuhi" (write) + "mua" (in front), referring to something already written (past, former). |
| Marathi | माजी, माजी is a homophone meaning 'yesterday' and 'former' and sharing a common etymological root with 'मध्यम', 'middle'. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "хуучин" can also mean "past","ancient","old" or "bygone". |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word ယခင်, meaning 'former' in Myanmar, shares the same root as 'old' and 'ancient'. |
| Nepali | The word 'पहिले' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'प्रथम' (prathama), which means 'first' or 'foremost'. |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, "tidligere" can also refer to "before" or "previously". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja (Chichewa) word "zakale" means "former" in English, and is similar to the Swahili word "zako". Both come from the Bantu root word "-kale," meaning "to be old." |
| Pashto | The word also means 'forefather', and is related to the Pashto word 'پښت' (Pashtun). |
| Persian | The Persian word "سابق" can also mean "precedent" or "ancestor" depending on context. |
| Polish | In Polish, the word "były" can also mean "used to be" or "one who used to be". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "antigo" can also mean "ancient" or "old-fashioned". |
| Punjabi | The word "साबक़ा" can also mean "acquaintance" or "previous experience." |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "fost" ("former") originates from Latin "fuit" ("he/she/it was") and also means "deceased". |
| Russian | The Russian word "бывший" initially denoted a "former serf" who has gained freedom, hence "ex-serf". |
| Samoan | Muamua also means 'in front' or 'ahead' in Samoan. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic 'roimhe' has a cognate in the Irish word 'roimh', meaning 'before' or 'in front of'. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "бивши" (bivši) can also mean "ex" (as in "ex-husband") or "late" (as in "the late Mr. Smith"). |
| Sesotho | The word "pele" in Sesotho also means "the first" or "the original". |
| Shona | The word "zvekare" can also mean "again" or "once more". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "اڳوڻو" can also refer to someone who is experienced or skilled in a particular field. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | "හිටපු" is also used in Sinhala to denote something that has been removed or abolished. |
| Slovak | The word "bývalý" in Slovak can be derived from the Proto-Slavic root *bъv-, meaning "to be," or alternatively from the Old Church Slavonic word *byti, meaning "to have been." |
| Slovenian | "Nekdanji" is a versatile word that can also mean "former" in the sense of referring to something that no longer exists. |
| Somali | The word "hore" can also refer to the "firstborn child" or the "first born of animals". |
| Spanish | In Spanish, the word "ex" can also refer to "late" or "former" in the context of a deceased person. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "urut" can also refer to a "line" or "row". |
| Swahili | "Zamani" can also mean "time" or "period". |
| Swedish | The word 'före detta' is derived from the Old Norse 'fyrir þetta', meaning 'before this' or 'formerly'. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Dating, a Filipino word for "former," shares no relation to its English counterpart. |
| Tajik | The word "собиқ" in Tajik comes from the Arabic word "سابِق" (sābiq), meaning "predecessor" or "preceding, |
| Tamil | The word "முன்னாள்" comes from the Tamil root word "முகம்" meaning "face", and it can also mean "before" in terms of time or position. |
| Telugu | The word "మాజీ" ("māji") in Telugu is a cognate of the Sanskrit word "माजी" ("mājī"), which means "preceding" or "going before". |
| Thai | The Thai word 'อดีต' (a-tidt) derives from the Sanskrit word 'अतीत' (atita), meaning 'past' or 'gone by'. |
| Turkish | In Turkish, "eski" not only means "former," but also refers to secondhand items, as in "eski eşyalar" ("used goods"). |
| Ukrainian | The word “колишній” (“former”) in Ukrainian is derived from the Old Slavic word “*kolь”, which also meant “circle”, “wheel”, or “turn”, suggesting the idea of something that has passed or has been completed. |
| Urdu | "سابق" can also mean "ex- (husband/wife)" in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | Avvalgi (former) is derived from the Persian word "āvvāl" meaning "first, before, in advance". |
| Vietnamese | The word "trước đây" is composed of the Chinese word "trước" (meaning "before, in front") and the Vietnamese word "đây" (meaning "here, this place"). |
| Welsh | The word "gynt" also means "formerly" in Welsh. |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, the word "yangaphambili" also means "in the past" or "previously." |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "ערשטע" (ershte) traces its origins back to the Old High German word "erist" meaning "earliest", akin to the English word "erstwhile". |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, 'tele' also means 'to be at a distance from' or 'to be far away'. |
| Zulu | The word "okwedlule" in Zulu can also refer to something that is "outdated" or "obsolete." |
| English | The word "former" can also refer to a mold or template used in shaping or making something. |