aftermath

From after- + math (“a mowing”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæf.tɚˌmæθ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːf.təˌmæθ/, /ˈɑːf.təˌmɑːθ/, /ˈæf.təˌmæθ/

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aftermath (plural aftermaths)

1. That which happens after, that which follows, usually of strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.

   Synonym: lattermath (uncommon)

   Antonyms: foremath (uncommon), beforemath (uncommon)

   In contrast to most projections of the aftermath of nuclear war, in this there is no rioting or looting.

   • 2024 September 11, Richard Brody, ““Winner” Takes Political Comedy Seriously”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], archived from the original on 20 September 2024:

     Fogel, working with a script by the journalist Kerry Howley, follows Winner from the age of nine to the aftermath of her plea, and organizes the movie around voice-over reminiscences by Reality (the character is played by Emilia Jones).

   • 2026 March 4, Christian Wolmar, “Railtrack: what really happened”, in RAIL, number 1056, page 50:

     More than a quarter of a century after the fraught events that followed the privatisation of the railway, Corbett has provided a warts and all analysis of what led to the spate of rail disasters in the aftermath of the break-up of British Rail, and (ultimately) to the demise of the company.

2. (obsolete, agriculture) A second mowing; the grass which grows after the first crop of hay in the same season.

   Synonyms: lattermath (archaic), rowen (archaic)

   Antonyms: foremath (archaic), beforemath (archaic)

   • 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes:

     They were cutting aftermath on all sides, which gave the neighbourhood, this gusty autumn morning, an untimely smell of hay.

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