aftermath
/ˈɑːftəmaθ
/ /ˈɑːftəmɑːθ /noun
1The consequences or after-effects of a significant unpleasant event: food prices soared in the aftermath of the drought...
- Counselling in the aftermath of traumatic events can worsen stress and hinder recovery.
- In the aftermath of these two events, she went through a period of anorexia and terrible confusion.
- European leaders made all the right noises in the aftermath of Tuesday's events.
Synonyms
repercussions, after-effects, by-product, fallout, backwash, trail, wake, corollary;
reverberations, consequences, effects, results, fruits;
end result, outcome, upshot, issue, end
informal follow-up
2 Farming New grass growing after mowing or harvest.Proper use of slurry and fertilizer are essential to the recovery of silage aftermaths right now....
- Grazing must take priority through the summer months, with the grazing rotations extended across second-cut aftermaths to compensate for slower growth as grass hits the mid-season trough.
- In early August they commenced the grass harvesting operation on second cut aftermath, with fresh cut grass made available at both milkings to all cows.
Origin
Late 15th century (in sense 2): from after (as an adjective) + dialect math 'mowing', of Germanic origin; related to German Mahd.
The aftermath was originally the crop of new grass that springs up after a field has been mown in early summer. John Buchan (1874–1940), the Scottish writer of adventure stories such as The Thirty-Nine Steps, wrote about ‘Meadowland from which an aftermath of hay had lately been taken’. Math was an old word meaning ‘a mowing’. The modern meaning of aftermath developed in the 19th century.