aft¹

[aft, ahft]Nautical, Aeronautics

See more synonyms for aft on Thesaurus.com

adverb

at, close to, or toward the stern or tail: Stow the luggage aft.

adjective

situated toward or at the stern or tail: The aft sail was luffing.

Origin of aft¹

before 950; Middle English afte, Old English æftan from behind, equivalent to æf- opposite + -t- suffix of uncertain value + -an suffix marking motion from; cognate with Old Frisian efta, Old Saxon, Old High German aftan, Gothic aftana, Old Norse aptan, Greek opís(s)ō behind; not akin to Greek apó off

aft²

[aft, ahft]

adverb Scot.

oft.

aft.

afternoon.

A.F.T.

American Federation of Teachers.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for aft

Contemporary Examples

The fore and aft have beautiful decks carved into them, and windows from various rooms too: it looks like a floating Apple device.
The World's Most Beautiful Boat—Yours for Half a Billion Dollars
Tim Teeman
October 19, 2014
The New York State United Teachers, part of AFT, recently voted to pull its support for Common Core.
The Incredibly Stupid War on the Common Core
Charles Upton Sahm
April 21, 2014

Historical Examples

Mr. Trant now called the Scourges aft, and asked more of the particulars.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The mate ordered me aft, and I crawled upon the quarter-deck to be examined.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Fore and aft were circular partitions of steel, like drumheads.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
Aft, preparations were making of a more permanent nature, it is true.
Homeward Bound
James Fenimore Cooper
Anybody can see he's built for speed, narrow in the beam and sharp fore and aft.
Cy Whittaker's Place
Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for aft

aft

adverb, adjective

mainly nautical towards or at the stern or rearthe aft deck; aft of the engines

Word Origin

C17: perhaps a shortened form of earlier abaft

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for aft

adv.

Old English æftan "from behind, behind, farthest back," from superlative of Old English æf, af, of "away, away from, off" (see of). The Germanic superlative suffix *-ta corresponds to PIE *-to (cf. Greek protos "first," superlative of pro "before"). Now purely nautical.

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aft2

aft.

A.F.T.

Examples from the Web for aft

Contemporary Examples

The fore and aft have beautiful decks carved into them, and windows from various rooms too: it looks like a floating Apple device.

The New York State United Teachers, part of AFT, recently voted to pull its support for Common Core.

Historical Examples

Mr. Trant now called the Scourges aft, and asked more of the particulars.

The mate ordered me aft, and I crawled upon the quarter-deck to be examined.

Fore and aft were circular partitions of steel, like drumheads.

Aft, preparations were making of a more permanent nature, it is true.