adv. A comparative of far.
- To or at a more distant or remote point: ran farther than the others.
- To or at a more advanced point or stage: I went no farther that day.
- Usage Problem. To a greater extent or degree: carried the idea farther.
More distant; remoter: the farther shore.
[Middle English, variant (influenced by far, far) of further; see further.]
USAGE NOTE Since the Middle English period many writers have used farther and further interchangeably. According to a relatively recent rule, however, farther should be reserved for physical distance and further for nonphysical, metaphorical advancement. Thus 74 percent of the Usage Panel prefers farther in the sentence If you are planning to drive any farther than Ukiah, you'd better carry chains, and 64 percent prefers further in the sentence We won't be able to answer these questions until we are further along in our research. In many cases, however, the distinction is not easy to draw. If we speak of a statement that is far from the truth, for example, we should also allow the use of farther in a sentence such as Nothing could be farther from the truth. But Nothing could be further from the truth is so well established as to seem a fixed expression.
