Meaning
2 senses(India, literary, not comparable)Former, previous.
vormalig, ehemalig, früher
было́йbylój, пре́жнийpréžnij
коли́шнійkolýšnij
(not comparable, proscribed)Respected, honourable.
More definitions
- belonging to some prior time
Examples
4 sentencesThe erstwhile lovers chatted and caught up.
My erstwhile colleague kept me up-to-date with the company gossip.
Tom watched in horror as the erstwhile contents of his grocery bags cascaded down the flight of stairs.
The erstwhile Jewish communities of North Africa dated to before the arrival of the first Arabs.
Translations
6 languagesУкраїнська
By meaning 1
former, previous:
Русский
By meaning 1
former, previous:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
former, previous:
Origin
From erst (“first, formerly”) + while.From erst (“first, formerly”) + while.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source