• (GA) IPA: /ˈfɔɹmɚ/
• (RP) IPA: /ˈfɔːmə/

former

1. Previous.

   A former president;  the former East Germany

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619 ↗:

     At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

2. First of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.

   The former is a good idea but the latter is not.

   I drive two vehicles, a Chevy Camaro and an AMC Gremlin. I won the former on a game show.

• (previous) erstwhile, sometime, whilom, wont-to-be; see also Thesaurus:former

• (previous) next; see also Thesaurus:subsequent
• (first of aforementioned two items) latter

• French: précédent, ancien
• German: ehemalig, vorig, früher, vorherig, vormalig, alt
• Italian: precedente, anteriore, ex
• Portuguese: anterior, ex
• Russian: бы́вший
• Spanish: anterior, antiguo

• French: premier, celui-là
• German: ersterer, erstere, ersteres
• Italian: primo
• Portuguese: primeiro, aquele
• Russian: пе́рвый
• Spanish: primero, primera, aquello, aquella

former (plural formers)

1. Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

   Dave was the former of the company.

2. An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.

   The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

3. (chiefly, British, used in combinations) Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).

   Fifth-former.

   Sixth-former.