After

Part of speech: preposition, adverb, conjunction

Pronunciation: /ˈɑːftə/

Definitions

1. Following in time or place; subsequent to a particular event or moment
2. Subsequent in time or order, relating to occurrences that happen later than a specific point or event
3. Positioned later in sequence or chronologically, indicating events or actions that take place following a designated time

Etymology: The most surprising fact about "after" is that its root meant "away" or "off" before it ever meant "later." The Proto-Indo-European ancestor was "h₂epoteros, roughly "further behind, further away," built from "h₂epo, "off, away." Spatial distance became temporal sequence over the long road from Proto-Germanic to Old English "æfter," where the sense of being behind someone in space slid into coming behind in time. The word is a comparative in origin, which explains its shape. Its relatives across the Germanic languages show the same pattern: Dutch and Low German "achter" still mean "behind," German "after-" survives in compounds, and Scots "efter," Danish and Swedish "efter," and Icelandic "eftir" all carry the sense "after." English kept both the spatial and temporal senses in its everyday vocabulary. Irish offers a striking parallel. The Irish way of saying something has just happened, as in "Táim tar éis...," literally means "I am after...," and English speakers in Ireland have calqued this into their own usage for recent completion of an action.

Synonyms: following, subsequent, later

Antonyms: before