前者
qiánzhě · HSK 7
the former
前 (front/before) + 者 (the one) = the one mentioned before = the former
者 marks the one who does or is something. So 前者 is literally the before-one, the first of two things named — the former. Its partner is 后者 (hòuzhě), the after-one, the latter.
前 — top 丷 + 一 + 月 (moon) + 刂 (knife)
Originally written 歬, depicting a foot 止 above a boat 舟, meaning to advance or go forward. Over time the form evolved and the knife radical 刂 was added, while 止 and 舟 fused into the modern shape. The core meaning 'front, before, ahead' has stayed consistent.
者 — old/elder 耂 + say 曰
Originally depicted sugarcane or a similar plant, but the form was reanalyzed as 耂 (old) over 曰 (say). It became a grammatical suffix meaning 'one who…' or 'the…thing,' nominalizing verbs and adjectives. Today 者 mainly marks agents or categories, as in 学者 'scholar' or 记者 'reporter.'