An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/After
After, masculine, ‘buttocks, backside,’ from Middle High German after, Old High German aftaro, masculine, ‘fundament, anus’; literally ‘the back part,’ from Middle High German after, Old High German aftar, adjective, ‘behind, following’; akin to Gothic aftana, ‘from behind,’ Anglo-Saxon after, English after (Low German and Dutch achter), Gothic aftra, ‘back, again.’ It is certainly allied to Gothic afar, ‘behind,’ and the cognates discussed under aber. — After- in compounds is literally ‘after,’ whence the idea of ‘counterfeit, baseness’; compare Middle High German aftersprâche, ‘slander, backbiting,’ afterwort, ‘calumny’; the older meaning, ‘after, behind,’ is preserved in Modern High German Aftermiete, -muse, -rede. Note too Suabian (even in the Middle High German period) aftermontag for ‘Tuesday.’