FORMER

(EARLIER) [adjective] [before noun; not gradable] - of or in an earlier time; before the present time or in the pastThey asked the woman, a former nurse at the hospital, for information.The house, a former barn, has been attractively converted.He was sure he had been a doctor in a former existence/life (= previous existence).The painting was restored to its former glory (= returned to its original good condition).After the accident it was a long time before he seemed like his former self (= behaved in the way he had done before). [before noun]