English → Latin
“former” in Latin
prīstinusformer, old; early, original, primitive; pristinevetusold, aged, elderly, ancient; long-standing; former, previousōlimformerly, in time past, some time ago; once upon a time; one day, once, at some (future) timequondamat a certain time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly; sometimesanteābefore, beforehand; formerly, previouslyamīcitiafriendship; an alliance
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
former
pristinus (superior): vetus (old). Also by the adverbs olim, quondam, antea; e.g., a former friend of Philip, Philippi quondam amicus; amicus antea Philippi: Alexander’s former wife, Alexandri olim uxor. To return to one’s former state or position, in pristmum statum redire: one’s former life, vita superior: former custom, friendship, etc., pristina consuetudo, amicitia: contrary to any former precedent, contra omnia vetustatis exempla.
Fore-mentioned, Vid:
The former (in contradistinction to “the latter’), ille, illa, illud (opposed to hic): prior (opposed to posterior; e.g., priori posterius non jungitur, Cic., Acad., 2, 14).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for former?
- The usual Latin words for “former” are prīstinus, vetus, ōlim; also quondam, anteā, amīcitia. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.