after

after

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of after in English

English Online Dictionary. What means after‎? What does after mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English after, from Old English æfter, from Proto-West Germanic *aftar, from Proto-Germanic *after, *aftiri, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epoteros (“further behind, further away”), from *h₂epo (“off, away”).

Cognate with Scots efter (“after”), North Frisian efter (“after, behind”), West Frisian after, achter, efter (“behind; after”), Low German/Dutch achter (“behind”), German after- (“after-”), Swedish/Danish efter (“after”), Norwegian Nynorsk/Norwegian Bokmål etter (“after”), Icelandic eftir (“after”), aftur (“back, again”).

The Irish usage to indicate recent completion of an activity is a calque of the Irish collocation Táim tar éis... (“I have just...”, literally “I am after...”).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɑːftə/
  • (Northern England, other non-rhotic without the trap–bath split) IPA(key): /ˈaftə(ɹ)/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæftəɹ/
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈaftəɹ/
  • (dialectal, now rare) IPA(key): /ˈætə(ɹ)/, /ˈɑːtə(ɹ)/
  • Rhymes: -ɑːftə(ɹ), -æftə(ɹ)
  • Hyphenation: af‧ter

Adverb

after (not comparable)

  1. Behind; later in time; following.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

after

  1. Subsequently to; following in time; later than.
    1. Subsequently to and as a result of.
    2. Subsequently to and considering.
    3. Subsequently to and in spite of.
    4. (often with verbs related to cleaning or tidying) Subsequently to the actions of (someone), in order to remedy a situation.
    5. (in reduplicative expressions) Repeatedly, seemingly in a sequence without end.
    6. (Ireland, Newfoundland, usually preceded by a form of be, followed by an -ing form of a verb) Used to indicate recent completion of an activity.
  2. Behind.
  3. In pursuit of, seeking.
  4. In allusion to, in imitation of; following or referencing.
  5. Below, often next below, in importance or rank.
  6. Denoting the aim or object; concerning; in relation to.
  7. (obsolete) According to (an author or text).
  8. (obsolete) According to the direction and influence of; in proportion to; befitting.

Synonyms

  • post

Derived terms

Translations

Conjunction

after

  1. Signifies that the action of the clause it starts takes place before the action of the other clause.
    • 1991, Donald "Shadow" Rimgale (character), Robert DeNiro (actor), Backdraft
      So you punched out a window for ventilation. Was that before or after you noticed you were standing in a lake of gasoline?

Translations

Adjective

after

  1. (dated) Later; second (of two); next, following, subsequent
  2. (nautical or aeronautical, where the frame of reference is within the craft) At or towards the stern of a ship or the rear of an aircraft.

Usage notes

  • As shown in the examples above, the adverb in this nautical usage is aft and the related preposition is abaft.

Derived terms

Noun

after (plural afters)

  1. Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference after a specified treatment.
    Coordinate term: before

Related terms

References

  • Hall, Joseph Sargent (1942 March 2) “3. The Consonants”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 2, page 88.
  • Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
  • “after”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

  • aftre, frate, freat, freta, rafte, trafe

German

Etymology

From Middle High German after, from Old High German after.

Preposition

after [with dative]

  1. (chiefly Early New High German) after

Middle Dutch

Preposition

after

  1. (Holland) Alternative form of achter

Adverb

after

  1. (Holland) Alternative form of achter

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • efter, ofter

Etymology

From Old English æfter, efter, from Proto-West Germanic *aftar, from Proto-Germanic *after.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaftər/, /ˈɛftər/

Preposition

after

  1. after

Descendants

  • English: after
  • Geordie English: efter
  • Scots: efter, eftir
  • Yola: after

References

  • “after, prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German after, from Proto-West Germanic *aftar.

Preposition

after (+ dative)

  1. after

Descendants

  • German: after; After
  • Luxembourgish: uechter (“throughout”)

Old High German

Alternative forms

  • aftar, efter

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *aftar, from Proto-Germanic *after, whence also Old English æfter, Old Norse aptr. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epóteros (“further behind, further away”), comparative form of *h₂epó (“off, behind”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaf.ter/

Preposition

after (+ dative)

  1. after
  2. according to, in

Adverb

after

  1. behind
  2. after
  3. back

Descendants

  • Middle High German: after; *ahter, *achter
    • German: after; After
    • Luxembourgish: uechter (“throughout”)

References

  • Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

Polish

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from after-party.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaf.tɛr/
  • Rhymes: -aftɛr
  • Syllabification: af‧ter

Noun

after m inan

  1. (slang) after-party
    Synonyms: afterek, afterka, afterparty
    Antonyms: bifor, biforek, biforka

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

  • after in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • after at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English after[-party].

Pronunciation

Noun

after m (plural afters)

  1. (informal) after-party
  2. (informal) late-night bar

Proto-Norse

Romanization

after

  1. Romanization of ᚨᚠᛏᛖᚱ

Scots

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈafən/

Etymology 1

Adjective

after

  1. comparative degree of aft

Etymology 2

Adverb

after (comparative aftener, superlative aftenest)

  1. often, frequently

References

  • Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English after[-party].

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈafteɾ/ [ˈaf.t̪eɾ]
  • Rhymes: -afteɾ
  • Syllabification: af‧ter

Noun

after m (plural afters)

  1. after-party
  2. late-night bar

West Frisian

Preposition

after

  1. Alternative form of achter

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English after, from Old English æfter, from Proto-West Germanic *aftar.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaft̪ər/

Preposition

after

  1. after

References

  • Diarmaid Ó Muirithe (1990) “A Modern Glossary of the Dialect of Forth and Bargy”, in lrish University Review‎[2], volume 20, number 1, Edinburgh University Press, page 153

Bookmark
share
WebDictionary.net is an Free English Dictionary containing information about the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, definitions, translations, etymology and more.

Related Words

thereafter

afterwards

afternoon

Browse the English Dictionary

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

License

This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.