# after

> English word · Adverb · IPA /ˈɑːftə/ · frequency rank #80

## Definitions
1. Behind; later in time; following.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó
Proto-Indo-European *-teros
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep(o)teros
Proto-Germanic *after
Old English æfter
Middle English after
English after
From 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...”).

## Easily confused with
- **ate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-ate)
- **ATR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-atr)
- **ante** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-ante)
- **Ayer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-ayer)
- **anger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-anger)
- **alter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-alter)
- **amber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-amber)
- **altar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-altar)
- **Asher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-asher)
- **Aztec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-aztec)
- **alder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-alder)
- **Astor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-astor)
- **aster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-aster)
- **auger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-auger)
- **Alger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-alger)
- **artery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-artery)
- **antler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/after-vs-antler)
- **aft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aft-vs-after)
- **Afar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/afar-vs-after)
- **acer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/acer-vs-after)

## Common misspellings (7)
`afetr`, `affter`, `afterr`, `aftre`, `aftter`, `atfer`, `fater`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/after