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Webster 1913 Edition

After

Aft′er

(ȧft′tẽr)
,
Adj.
[AS.
æfter
after, behind; akin to Goth.
aftaro
,
aftra
, backwards, Icel.
aptr
, Sw. and Dan.
efter
, OHG.
aftar
behind, Dutch and LG.
achter
, Gr.
ἀπωτέρω
further off. The ending
-ter
is an old comparative suffix, in E. generally
-ther
(as in
other
), and
after
is a compar. of
of
,
off
. √194. See
Of
; cf.
Aft
.]
1.
Next; later in time; subsequent; succeeding;
as, an
after
period of life
.
Marshall.
☞ In this sense the word is sometimes needlessly combined with the following noun, by means of a hyphen, as, after-ages, after-act, after-days, after-life. For the most part the words are properly kept separate when after has this meaning.
2.
Hinder; nearer the rear.
(Naut.)
To ward the stern of the ship; – applied to any object in the rear part of a vessel; as the after cabin, after hatchway.
It is often combined with its noun;
as,
after
-bowlines,
after
-braces,
after
-sails,
after
-yards, those on the mainmasts and mizzenmasts
.
After body
(Naut.)
,
the part of a ship abaft the dead flat, or middle part.

Aft′er

,
p
rep.
1.
Behind in place;
as, men in line one
after
another
.
“Shut doors after you.”
Shak.
2.
Below in rank; next to in order.
Shak.
Codrus
after
Ph[GREEK]bus sings the best.
Dryden.
3.
Later in time; subsequent;
as,
after
supper,
after
three days
. It often precedes a clause. Formerly that was interposed between it and the clause.
After
I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
Matt. xxvi. 32.
4.
Subsequent to and in consequence of;
as,
after
what you have said, I shall be careful
.
5.
Subsequent to and notwithstanding;
as,
after
all our advice, you took that course
.
6.
Moving toward from behind; following, in search of; in pursuit of.
Ye shall not go
after
other gods.
Deut. vi. 14.
After
whom is the king of Israel come out?
1 Sam. xxiv. 14.
7.
Denoting the aim or object; concerning; in relation to;
as, to look
after
workmen; to inquire
after
a friend; to thirst
after
righteousness.
8.
In imitation of; in conformity with; after the manner of;
as, to make a thing
after
a model; a picture
after
Rubens; the boy takes
after
his father.
To name
or
call after
,
to name like and reference to.
Our eldest son was
named
George
after
his uncle.
Goldsmith.
9.
According to; in accordance with; in conformity with the nature of;
as, he acted
after
his kind
.
He shall not judge
after
the sight of his eyes.
Isa. xi. 3.
They that are
after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
Rom. viii. 5.
10.
According to the direction and influence of; in proportion to; befitting.
[Archaic]
He takes greatness of kingdoms according to bulk and currency, and not
after
their intrinsic value.
Bacon.
After all
,
when everything has been considered; upon the whole.
–
After
(with the same noun preceding and following), as, wave after wave, day after day, several or many (waves, etc.)
successively.
–
One after another
,
successively.
–
To be after
,
to be in pursuit of in order to reach or get;
as, he is
after
money
.

Aft′er

,
adv.
Subsequently in time or place; behind; afterward;
as, he follows
after
.
It was about the space of three hours
after
.
Acts. v. 7.
☞ After is prefixed to many words, forming compounds, but retaining its usual signification. The prefix may be adverbial, prepositional, or adjectival; as in after- described, after-dinner, after-part. The hyphen is sometimes needlessly used to connect the adjective after with its noun. See
Note
under
After
,
Adj.
, 1.

Webster 1828 Edition

After

'AFTER

,
Adj.
[The comparative degree of aft. But is some Teutonic dialects it is written with g.]
1.
In marine language, more aft, or towards the stern of the ship; as, the after sails; after hatchway.
2.
In common language, later in time; as, an after period of life.
In this sense, the word is often combined with the following noun; as in afternoon.

'AFTER

, prep.
1.
Behind in place; as, men placed in a line one after another.
2.
Later in time; as, after supper. This word often precedes a sentence, as a governing preposition.
After I have arisen, I will go before you into Galilee. Math. 26.
3.
In pursuit of, that is, moving behind, following; in search of.
After whom is the king of Israel come out? 1Sam. 24.
Ye shall not go after other Gods. Deut. 6.
4.
In imitation of; as, to make a thing after a model.
5.
According to; as, consider a thing after its intrinsic value.
6.
According to the direction and influence of.
To walk after the flesh; to live after the flesh. Rom. 8.
To judge after the sight of the eye. Is. 11.
To inquire after is to seek by asking; to ask concerning.
To follow after, in scripture, is to pursue, or imitate; to serve, or worship.

Definition 2024

After

After

See also: after, æfter, and after-

German

Noun

After m ‎(genitive Afters, plural After)

  1. (anatomy, formal, literary) anus
    [Feigwarzen] können sowohl am After als auch im Geschlechtsbereich sitzen. 1
    [Condylomata acuminata warts] can be situated in the region of the anus as well as that of the sexual organs.
  2. (obsolete) buttocks, backside

Declension

Synonyms

(anus):

Derived terms

(anus):

Related terms

after

after

See also: After, after-, and æfter

English

Alternative forms

Adverb

after ‎(not comparable)

  1. Behind; later in time; following.
    They lived happily ever after.
    I left the room, and the dog bounded after.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

after

  1. Subsequently to; following in time; later than.
    We had a few beers after the game.‎
    The time is quarter after eight.‎
    The Cold War began shortly after the Second World War.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.
    • 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC:
      After early sparring, Spurs started to take control as the interval approached and twice came close to taking the lead. Terry blocked Rafael van der Vaart's header on the line and the same player saw his cross strike the post after Adebayor was unable to apply a touch.
    • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
      From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
  2. Behind.
    He will leave a trail of destruction after him.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
      Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
  3. In pursuit of, seeking.
    He's after a job; run after him; inquire after her health.‎
  4. In allusion to, in imitation of; following or referencing.
    We named him after his grandfather; a painting after Leonardo da Vinci.‎
    • 1735, The Sportsman's Dictionary
      Work your horse in a calade, after the Italian way; ride him straight, and then you make good use of the calade.
  5. Next in importance or rank.
    The princess is next in line to the throne after the prince.‎
  6. As a result of.
    After your bad behaviour, you will be punished.‎
  7. In spite of.
    After all that has happened, he is still my friend.‎
    I can't believe that, after all our advice against gambling, you walked into that casino!
  8. (Ireland, usually preceded by a form of be, followed by an -ing form of a verb) Used to indicate recent completion of an activity
    I was after finishing my dinner when there was a knock on the door.‎
    • 1875, Patrick Kennedy, Evenings in the Duffrey, page 283:
      He was after walking on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before, all the way from the County Limerick, where his brother, Father John, has a parish; and you may believe, the poor man was tired
    • 1906, Lady Gregory, “A Miracle Play”, in The Shanachie, volume 1:
      Mother: Let him get away out of this now, himself and his share of songs. Look at the way he has your bib destroyed that I was after washing in the morning!
    • 2004, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, page 40:
      When I woke up it was black-dark and the music was after stopping. I could taste the bread I was after eating in the dream, as sweet and luscious as any I ever knew
    • 2004, Tabor Evans, Longarm and the Great Milk Train Robbery:
      He asked directions to the dairy those milk cans had shown up late at. Corrigan pointed back the way he'd come and explained, “You'd have been after riding past their loading platform because they don't have their sign overlooking where the train would be after stopping.
    • 2008, M. P. Shiel, The Black Box, page 45:
      "Yes. And where were you when the flood broke loose?" / "I would be most of the way to the Old House then. O'Loughlin was after running in wild to tell me he was hearing the Banshee out at The Old House, […] ."
  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.
    • Francis Bacon
      He takes greatness of kingdoms according to bulk and currency, and not after their intrinsic value.

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Translations

Conjunction

after

  1. Signifies that the action of the clause it starts takes place before the action of the other clause.
    I went home after we had decided to call it a day.‎
    • 1915, George A. Birmingham, “chapter I”, in Gossamer (Project Gutenberg; EBook #24394), London: Methuen & Co., published 8 January 2013 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 558189256:
      It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the **** begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.
    • 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?
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

Translations

Adjective

after

  1. (dated) Later; second (of two); next, following, subsequent
    • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska 1987, page 72:
      I did verily believe in my own mind, that I couldn't fight in that way at all; but my after experience convinced me that this was all a notion.
    • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
      The amends he had made in after life were lost sight of in the dramatic glare of the original act.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      In the old days, […], he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.
  2. (nautical, where the frame of reference is within the ship) At or towards the stern of a ship.
    The after gun is mounted aft.‎
    The after gun is abaft the forward gun.‎

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Related terms

References

  • 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

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: over · know · much · #95: after · first · down · good

Anagrams

German

Etymology

From Middle High German after, from Old High German after

Preposition

after (+ dative)

  1. (chiefly Early New High German) after
    • 1853, Gustav Eduard Benseler, Geschichte Freibergs und seines Bergbaues. Erste Abtheilung, Freiberg, pg. 251:
      Nun fragte der Forderer weiter an: wer irgend einen von ihnen after dem Tage hause oder hofe, d. h. zu Hause oder Hofe beherberge, wie der ihm zu Rechte bestanden sein. [...] Auf die fernere Frage des Forderers: ob er ihrer einen after dem Tage ansichtig werde, wie oder mit wem er sie aufhalten sollte, erklärte man ihm […]

Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German after

Preposition

after (+ dative)

  1. after

Old High German

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaf.ter/

Preposition

after (+ dative)

  1. after
    after zweim tagon
    after two days
  2. according to, in
    after antreitu
    in order

Adverb

after

  1. behind
  2. after
  3. back

References

  • Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

Spanish

Noun

after m ‎(plural afters)

  1. after-party

West Frisian

Preposition

after

  1. Alternative form of achter

Etymology

From Middle High German after, from Old High German aftero ("rear; behind; below"; compare Old High German aftar ‎(“after”, preposition, adverb)), from Proto-Germanic *after, *aftiri ‎(“more aft, further behind”), from Proto-Indo-European *apotero ‎(“further behind, further away”), comparative form of *apo- ‎(“off, behind”). Compare English after, Dutch achter, Danish efter.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaftɐ/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ˈaːftɐ/ (quite common; via English after, given the word’s infrequence in speech)

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