/ˈɑːftə/, /ˈaftə(ɹ)/, /ˈæftəɹ/
OriginFrom 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...”).
- not-comparableBehind; later in time; following.
“I left the room, and the dog bounded after.”
“They lived happily ever after.”
“I might come next month, or the month after.”
- Subsequently to; following in time; later than.
“We had a few beers after the game.”
“The time is a quarter after eight.”
“The Cold War began shortly after WWII.”
- Subsequently to and as a result of.
“After your bad behaviour, you will be punished.”
- Subsequently to and considering.
“I’m not putting you in charge again after the last disaster.”
- Subsequently to and 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!”
- oftenSubsequently to the actions of (someone), in order to remedy a situation.
“I'm tired of picking up after you. Why can't you clean your own messes?”
- Repeatedly, seemingly in a sequence without end.
“day after day, time after time, mile after mile, beer after beer, smile after smile”
- Ireland, NewfoundlandUsed to indicate recent completion of an activity.
“I was after finishing my dinner when there was a knock on the door. [= I had just finished my dinner when ...]”
“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”
“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!”
- Behind.
“He will leave a trail of destruction after him.”
“I told her to shut the door after her.”
“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.”
- In pursuit of, seeking.
“He’s after a job; run after him; inquire after her health.”
- In allusion to, in imitation of; following or referencing.
“We named him after his grandfather.”
“This painting is after Leonardo da Vinci.”
“Work your horse in a calade, after the Italian way; ride him straight, and then you make good use of the calade.”
- Below, often next below, in importance or rank.
“The princess is next in line to the throne after the prince.”
- Denoting the aim or object; concerning; in relation to.
“to look after workmen; to enquire after a friend; to thirst after righteousness”
- obsoleteAccording to (an author or text).
- obsoleteAccording to the direction and influence of; in proportion to; befitting.
“He takes greatness of kingdoms according to bulk and currency, and not after their intrinsic value.”
- Signifies that the action of the clause it starts takes place before the action of the other clause.
“The show ends after the fat lady sings.”
“After we had decided to call it a day, I went home.”
“It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fuss”
- datedLater; second (of two); next, following, subsequent
“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.”
“The amends he had made in after life were lost sight of in the dramatic glare of the original act.”
“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 ha”
- At or towards the stern of a ship or the rear of an aircraft.
“The after gun is mounted aft.”
“The after gun is abaft the forward gun.”
“The aircraft provided an after cabin for two radar operators.”
- Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference after a specified treatment.
“In the ‘before’ shots, she’ll look like an ordinary suburban housewife; but we know she acts in community theater musicals sometimes, so the ‘afters’ will give her a glamorous starlet image, starting ”
“Did any of the before pictures remind you of yourself, and did any of the afters show what you hoped your results might be?”
“So with that in mind, we thought it might be helpful to put some pictures where our mouths are, and include some less-than-flattering photos of our first house after we’d lived there eight whole month”
Formsafters(plural)