Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A consequence, especially of a disaster or misfortune: famine as an aftermath of drought.
- n. A period of time following a disastrous event: in the aftermath of war.
- n. A second growth or crop in the same season, as of grass after mowing.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A second mowing of grass from the same land in the same season. Also called lattermath, rowen, or rowett, and in some places, when left long on the ground, fog.
Wiktionary
- n. obsolete , or farmers' jargon: A second mowing; the grass which grows after the first crop of hay in the same season.
- n. Hence; that which happens after, that which follows. Has a strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A second moving; the grass which grows after the first crop of hay in the same season; rowen.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event)
- n. the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual
Etymologies
- From after- + math (“a mowing”), from Old English mæþ ("a mowing"), from Proto-Germanic *madan, *maþō, *maþwō, *mēdō (“a mowing”), from Proto-Indo-European *(a)mē- (“to mow”). Cognate with Dutch made, mad ("area of ground cleared by a sickle"), German Mahd ("mowing"). Related to Old English māwan ("to mow"). See mow, meadow. (Wiktionary)
- after + obsolete math, mowing (from Old English mǣth; see mē-4 in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“His coverage of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath is the reason he has lots of fans who watch his show, but actually he acts like a typical CNN talking head now!”
“The tragedy of the aftermath is almost constantly before me.”
“The battles Arthur fights are not romanticized, and particularly their aftermath is not romanticized: Malgwyn, the narrator, has lost a wife and an arm to the Saxons and is not, at the beginning of the book, particularly sure he thanks Arthur for saving him.”
“You can buy a ticket for a fifteen minute ride but the ride aftermath is highly depressing.”
“Kati With an I," an elegantly shot look at Mr. Greene's half-sister's prom preparations and the eventful aftermath, is the sort of subtly crafted film that stands to benefit from the critical attention a New York premiere can provide.”
“Many states took steps in aftermath of Kelo to revise their e.d. statutes to either restrict e.d. to "public use" purposes only, or else to provide for better compensation terms for the taken, including more reasonable attorney & expert fees.”
Lents Park deed restriction: The plot thickens (or thins, perhaps) (Jack Bog's Blog)
“The Iraq War and it's aftermath is a disaster for the American economy, concentrating American Taxes, Deficits, and Capitalization on production of basic non-productive product.”
Credit Bush for Recovery?, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“But within Bush's life time, other American presidents just might visit Iraq as routinely as they now visit Vietnam if we manage the long term aftermath of our exit as well as we did in Southeast Asia.”
“But also in the long term aftermath trying to develop information about the networks, who is behind them?”
“In the short-term aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, most programmers have handled the situation deftly.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘aftermath’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Beautiful Compound Words
aftermath, afterthought, butterfly, campfire, colorblind, backhand, crossword, cupcake, dollhouse, drawbridge, dreadlock, dreamscape and 73 more...
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Last Words
Endings, results, and pinnacles. The ideal here is to somehow imply the paradoxical concept of "after-endings".
consequence, aftermath, finality, outcome, postmundane, endgame, redound, cloture, bourne, meridian, memento mori, psychopomp and 72 more...
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afters
aftermath, after-tax, aftertaste, afterworld, afterword, after hours, after glow, after-hours, after-shave, after the fact, after-wit, afternoon and 44 more...
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Things from my memory
nigger baby, mexican jumping bean, puddle jumper, mood ring, pet rock, cat scratch fever, taxman, hippie, vaseline, argyrol, mercurchrome, methiolade and 655 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, A
abaculus, abacus, abaft, abarticular, abbreviate, abeyance, abiding, anthocyanin, antemeridian, arcane, adjure, adduce and 418 more...
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Words For Novel (Part 3)
fibers, gypsy, polymer, schism, syphilitic garden..., holocaust, scrutinant, contemplate, aftermath, consequence, deadlock, impasse and 170 more...
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inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
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hard to sense
somewhat, somewhere, elsewhere, whereby, likewise, spite, ever, along, otherwise, whatever, whichever, hitherto and 116 more...
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Beknownst1981's list
I love words, especially the ones I make up with my friends.
translucent meat ..., beknownst (knew), plethora, curmudgeon, wanderlust, actually, differentiate, bearded, hobbit feet, female, sexy time, librarian and 220 more...
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English
rewarding, wit, landmark, core, soar, drop, plunge, plummet, dive, level off, rocket, peak and 110 more...
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anotherfailedattempt's Words
kakistocracy, conflagration, pollyanna, equanimity, punctillious, obstreperous, ribald, belligerent, truculent, verbose, lachrymose, onanism and 278 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
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Words suggested in response to Funk's...
In response to Wilfred J. Funk's "ten most beautiful words in the English language" list of 1932.
beer, rum, rye, sauterne, sherry, brandy, bourbon, Scotch, champagne, cocktail, lyric, serenity and 137 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for aftermath.
vanishedone I like the etymology of this: after-mowing, regrowth of grass after a harvest in early Summer. Jan 12, 2009