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aft

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aft¹

  • /ɑːft/ UK
  • /æft/ Canada, US
  • /ɐːft/ Australia, New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɑːft, -æft

Where it comes from

From Old English æftan (“behind”); possibly originally superlative of of (“off”). See after.

adverb further aft · farther aft · more aft · furthest aft · farthest aft · most aft

  1. At, near, or towards the stern of a vessel (with the frame of reference within the vessel). I came safe on board, but I felt anything but easy about the boat and the boy; my thoughts were not where they should be, for every moment I had to give the boat and the boy a look, and at last I saw a sea strike the boat aft, which gave it a send forward and under, and the next moment he was gone.

    Similar: abaft, astern

Opposite: fore, forward

adjective further aft · farther aft · more aft · furthest aft · farthest aft · most aft

  1. located at the back of a boat, ship, or airplane

aft²

  • /ɑːft/ UK
  • /æft/ Canada, US
  • /ɐːft/ Australia, New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɑːft, -æft

Where it comes from

Clipping of afternoon.

noun afts

  1. alternative, dated, slang Alternative form of afternoon: the time of day from noon until early evening. A gents' toilet room might be found in a house that caters for the cheaper class of theatrical patronage, where the slangy language of the "goin' to the mat this aft?" style prevails. A gents toilet room is not found in the Southern Hotel. It either "men's" or "gentlemen's".

    Similar: afternoon

AFT³

proper noun

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of American Federation of Teachers

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: abaft, aftermost, astern, after, stern, tail, sternward, mainmast, rear-end, lineman, backseat, apc, backside, nea, atf, rearward

adverb

Opposite: fore, forward

Translations

Every language

adv at, near, or towards the stern

Española popa
Deutschachtern
Italianoa poppa
Русскийна корме, к корме

adj located at the back of a vessel

Françaisarrière

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Cite this
MLA

"aft." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/aft. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

aft. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/aft

Chicago

"aft." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/aft.

BibTeX
@misc{aft_2026,
  title = {aft},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/aft},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}