aftermath
pronunciation
How to pronounce aftermath in British English:
UK [ˈɑːftəmæθ]
How to pronounce aftermath in American English:
US [ˈæftərmæθ]
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- Noun:
- the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event)
- the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual
Word Origin
- aftermath
- aftermath: [16] Originally, and literally, an aftermath was a second crop of grass or similar grazing vegetation, grown after an earlier crop in the same season had been harvested. Already by the mid 17th century it had taken on the figurative connotations of ‘resulting condition’ which are today its only living sense. The -math element comes from Old English mǣth ‘mowing’, a noun descended from the Germanic base *mǣ, source of English mow.=> mow
- aftermath (n.)
- 1520s, originally a second crop of grass grown after the first had been harvested, from after + -math, a dialectal word, from Old English mæð "a mowing, cutting of grass" (see math (n.2)). Figurative sense by 1650s. Compare French regain "aftermath," from re- + Old French gain, gaain "grass which grows in meadows that have been mown," from Frankish or some other Germanic source similar to Old High German weida "grass, pasture"
Example
- 1. We will struggle with its aftermath for years .
- 2. The aftermath of each incident follows a similar trajectory .
- 3. There will be work on coping with the aftermath of an attack .
- 4. The aftermath strengthened the endangered democracy .
- 5. All three will still be grappling with the aftermath of the global financial crisis .