Aftermath

How to spell aftermath

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce aftermath

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aftermath mean?

1. nounThe period or set of consequences that follows a significant, usually damaging, event.

Aftermath in a sentence

• In the aftermath of the flood, residents spent weeks clearing debris from their homes.

• The company struggled to rebuild trust in the aftermath of the data breach.

Where does aftermath come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Aftermath is a transparent compound of the everyday word 'after' and an old farming term 'math', which came from the Old English 'maeth' meaning a mowing or the crop that is cut. In its original sixteenth century sense an aftermath was literally the second crop of grass that grew and was mown after the first harvest, the 'after-mowing' of a field. From this agricultural picture the word drifted into figurative use, coming to mean whatever follows a notable, usually destructive, event. The 'math' here has nothing whatever to do with mathematics; it is a native Germanic relative of the verb 'to mow', which is exactly why the spelling ends in -math rather than -path or -mass. Today the literal hay-cutting sense has almost vanished and the word survives chiefly for the consequences left behind by storms, accidents and crises.

How the word is built

• after (following, behind)
• math (a mowing of grass, from Old English maeth)