formerly

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English former

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English formerly

From former + -ly.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹmɚli/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːməli/
  • May sometimes be overly enunciated like /ˈfɔːmərli/ to avoid confusion with formally.

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: formally (non-rhotic)

Adverb

formerly (not comparable)

1. at some time in the past

   Xenia Robertson, formerly known as Xenia Isaamov, is from Ukraine.

2. previously; once

   Synonym: at one time

   This ranch was formerly owned by slaveholders.

Derived terms

• formerly known as

Translations

at some time in the past

• Arabic: كَانَ (ar) (kāna)
• Bashkir: борон (boron), элек (elek)
• Bulgarian: преди (bg) (predi), в миналото (v minaloto)
• Catalan: anteriorment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 以前 (zh) (yǐqián)

• Czech: dříve (cs), kdysi (cs)
• Danish: tidligere (da), forhen, fordum
• Esperanto: antaŭe
• Finnish: aiemmin (fi)
• French: auparavant (fr), autrefois (fr), anciennement (fr)
• Georgian: წინათ (c̣inat)
• German: früher (de), ehemals (de)
• Greek: πρώην (el) (próin)
• Hebrew: לַשְׁעָבַר (he) (leshe‘avár)
• Japanese: 旧来 (ja) (kyūrai)
• Khmer: អតីត (km) (ʼaʼdət)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: جاران (caran)

• Latin: anteā (la)
• Māori: irāmata, inamata
• Middle High German: wīlen
• Navajo: ałkʼidą́ą́ʼ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tidligere (no)

• Old English: ǣror
• Polish: przedtem (pl), wcześniej (pl), kiedyś (pl), dawniej (pl)
• Portuguese: antigamente (pt)
• Russian: когда́-то (ru) (kogdá-to), не́когда (ru) (nékogda), пре́жде (ru) (préžde)
• Sanskrit: पुरा (sa) (purā)
• Scottish Gaelic: roimhe
• Spanish: anteriormente (es), otrora (es), antes (es), antaño (es)
• Swedish: fordom (sv)
• Turkish: eskiden (tr), bir zaman (tr), önceden (tr), zamanında (tr)
• Uyghur: بالدۇر (baldur)

previously; once

• Bashkir: борон (boron), элек (elek), (once) ҡасандыр (qasandır)
• Bulgarian: някога (bg) (njakoga), преди (bg) (predi)
• Czech: dříve (cs)
• Danish: tidligere (da)
• Esperanto: antaŭe
• Finnish: aiemmin (fi), kerran (fi)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• Greek: προηγούμενος (el) (proïgoúmenos), προηγουμένως (el) (proïgouménos)

  Ancient Greek: πρίν (prín)

• Japanese: かつて (ja) (katsute)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: لەمەو پێش (lemew pêş)

• Latin: quondam
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tidligere (no)

• Old English: ǣror
• Portuguese: antes (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: roimhe
• Spanish: antes (es), otrora (es), antaño (es), antiguamente (es)
• Swedish: fordom (sv)
• Turkish: eskiden (tr), önceden (tr), bir zamanlar (tr), bir zaman (tr), zamanında (tr)
• Uyghur: بالدۇر (baldur)