Farther means at or to a greater distance in physical space. When you walk farther down the road, you're moving a greater distance from where you started. If one house is farther from school than another, it's located at a greater physical distance away.

The word usually refers to measurable distance you can point to or walk across. The playground might be farther from your classroom than the library is. During a family road trip, you might ask, “How much farther until we get there?” meaning how much more physical distance remains.

People often confuse farther with further, but many speakers find a useful distinction: use farther for actual distances you could measure with a ruler or odometer, and further for abstract ideas like “further discussion” or “further evidence.” An easy way to remember: farther has the word “far” right in it, which reminds you it's about physical distance.

You might hear someone say they can't walk any farther because they're tired, or notice that one paper airplane flew farther than another. The word helps us talk precisely about physical space and distance, which matters when giving directions, planning trips, or comparing how far different things are from each other.