formerly

Etymology

It is formed from English former + -ly.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Former is a comparative, first recorded in the 12th century, of forme (“first”),^[2][7][8][3] on the analogy of formest, now foremost.^[2][3] The positive is from Old English forma (“first”),^[7][3][8] from Proto-Germanic *fruma-, itself from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forward”) with a superlative suffix.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A little time before, just now: 1590, in Spenser's Faerie Queene.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1580s,^[3] Dictionary.com to 1580–90,^[6] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1534, for the sense "in the time immediately preceding".^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first two senses point to a recent or relative past: "just now" (1590–1766) and "first, beforehand" (1596–1655), both obsolete.^[2][5] The only surviving sense, "in former days, at some past time", appears in 1599 in a petition printed by Hakluyt.^[2] Johnson (1755) already had just this meaning: "in times past".^[9] Middle English used a different word for the idea, andersith, from the early 14th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1590 – a little time before, just now (obsolete by 1766).^[2]
• 1596 – before another or something else, first, beforehand (obsolete by 1655).^[2]
• 1599 – in former days, at some past time.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In the past, at an earlier time; once, previously: The bakery was formerly a chapel.^[4][5][2]
2. (obsolete, 1590–1766) Just before, just now.^[4][2][5]
3. (obsolete, 1596–1655) Beforehand, first.^[4][2][5]

Related words

• former
• foremost
• formally

Usage notes

Dictionary.com lists formerly and formally among words that are confused.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.