aft

1 of 5

adverb

ˈaft 

: near, toward, or in the stern of a ship or the tail of an aircraft

called all hands aft

aft

2 of 5

adjective

: rearward, after sense 2

the aft decks

aft

3 of 5

Scottish variant of oft

aft

4 of 5

abbreviation (1)

afternoon

AFT

5 of 5

abbreviation

1

American Federation of Teachers

2

automatic fine-tuning

Synonyms

Adverb

• abaft
• astern
• sternward
• sternwards

Adjective

• after
• back
• hind
• hinder
• hindmost
• posterior
• rear
• rearward

Examples of aft in a Sentence

Adverb

We stood on the ship's deck facing aft.

The plane's exits are located fore and aft.

Adjective

the ship's fore and aft cabins

The fore and aft exits can both be used in an emergency.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adverb

Also of note is the Dusk Bar, which sits aft on Deck 10 and is stocked with interesting spirits. —David Swanson, Travel + Leisure, 27 May 2024

Bars and Restaurants The best seat in the house was aft, on the Lido deck, soaking up the Mediterranean sunshine with a flute of Champagne. —Helen Iatrou, Travel + Leisure, 30 Nov. 2023

Adjective

At the opposite end, the aft cockpit is perfect for alfresco dining or lounging. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2023

In the immediate aftermath, Russian flight controllers attempted to use the European robotic arm, attached to the Russian segment of the station, to observe the aft end of the Soyuz where the leak occurred. —Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 16 Dec. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

Middle English afte "back," going back to Old English æftan "behind, from behind," going back to Germanic *aftana (whence Old Saxon at aftan "last," Middle High German aften "behind, later," Old Norse aptan "from behind, behind," Gothic aftana "from behind"), from *aft- "behind" (probably secondarily from *after- after entry 1, parsed as aft- + -er-) + -ana "from (a place)"

Note: The suffix -(a)na has been traced to a putative Indo-European *-nē (in pre-laryngealist terms), to be found in Sanskrit vinā "without," Latin superne "from above," inferne "from below," Old Church Slavic vŭně "outside." All these compared elements can be given other explanations, however, and the origin of the suffix is not clear.

Adjective

derivative of aft entry 1

First Known Use

Adverb

1580, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1667, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing aft

• aft of
• fore and aft
• fore-and-aft rig

Kids Definition

aft

adverb

ˈaft

: near, toward, or in the stern of a ship or the tail of an aircraft