after

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 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): /ˈɑːf.tə(ɹ)/
• (Northern England, other non-rhotic without the trap-bath split) IPA^(key): /ˈaf.tə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæf.tɚ/
• (dialectal, now rare) IPA^(key): /ˈæ.tə(ɹ)/, /ˈɑː.tə(ɹ)/
• Hyphenation: af‧ter
• Rhymes: -ɑːftə(ɹ), -æftə(ɹ)

Adverb

after (not comparable)

1. Behind; later in time; following.

2. On the result of. Often used with verbs related to cleaning.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

after

1. Subsequently to; following in time; later than.
   1. (in reduplicative expressions) Repeatedly, seemingly in a sequence without end.

      day after day, time after time, mile after mile, beer after beer, smile after smile

2. Behind.
3. In pursuit of, seeking.

4. In allusion to, in imitation of; following or referencing.
5. Next in importance or rank.

6. As a result of.

7. In spite of.

   I can't believe that, after all our advice against gambling, you walked into that casino!

8. (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
9. (dated) According to an author or text.
10. Denoting the aim or object; concerning; in relation to.

    to look after workmen; to enquire after a friend; to thirst after righteousness

11. (obsolete) According to the direction and influence of; in proportion to; befitting.

Usage notes

• The Irish English usage example is equivalent to "I had just finished my dinner when […] .".

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, where the frame of reference is within the ship) At or towards the stern of a ship.

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 (governs the 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 High German

Etymology

From Old High German after.

Preposition

after (+ dative)

1. after

Old High German

Alternative forms

• aftar, efter

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *after, whence also Old English æfter, Old Norse aptr. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epótero- (“further behind, further away”), comparative form of *apo- (“off, behind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaf.ter/

Preposition

after (+ dative)

1. after

2. according to, in

Adverb

after

1. behind
2. after
3. back

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