before
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English before (adverb and preposition), from Old English beforan, from be- + foran (“before”), from fore, from Proto-Germanic *furai, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“front”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian befoar (“before”), German Low German bevör (“before”), German bevor (“before”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: bĭfôʹ, IPA(key): /bɪˈfɔː/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: bəfôrʹ, bēfôrʹ, IPA(key): /bəˈfɔɹ/, /biˈfɔɹ/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "rhotic" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: bĭfōrʹ, IPA(key): /bɪˈfo(ː)ɹ/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "nonrhotic" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /bɪˈfoə/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: be‧fore
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Preposition
before
- Earlier than (in time).
- I want this done before Monday.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
- We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.
- In front of in space.
- He stood before me.
- We sat before the fire to warm ourselves.
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- His angel, who shall go / Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire.
- Template:RQ:Mrxl SqrsDghtr
- He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. […] But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again […] she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.
- 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist:
- The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
- In the presence of.
- He performed before the troops in North Africa.
- He spoke before a joint session of Congress.
- Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
- The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.
- (Can we date this quote by John Ayliffe and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- If a suit be begun before an archdeacon […]
- In store for, in the future of (someone).
- (Can we date this quote by Thomas Carlyle and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- The golden age […] is before us.
- (Can we date this quote by Thomas Carlyle and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
- In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".
- At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
- An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.
Synonyms
- (earlier than in time): by, no later than, prior to, ere (obsolete)
- (in front of in space): ahead of, in front of
- (in front of according to an ordering system): ahead of
Antonyms
- (earlier than in time): after, later than
- (in front of in space): behind
- (in front of according to an ordering system): after
Translations
earlier than
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in front of in space
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in store for, in the future of
under consideration, judgment, authority of
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in front of according to an ordering system
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at a higher or greater position in a subjective ranking
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Adverb
before (not comparable)
- At an earlier time.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.
- I've never done this before.
- In advance.
- At the front end.
- 1896, Hilaire Belloc, The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, “The Elephant”:
- When people call this beast to mind,
They marvel more and more
At such a little tail behind,
So LARGE a trunk before.
- When people call this beast to mind,
- 1896, Hilaire Belloc, The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, “The Elephant”:
Synonyms
- (at an earlier time): previously
- (in advance): ahead
- (at the front end): in front
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
at an earlier time
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in advance
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at the front end
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Conjunction
before
- In advance of the time when.
- (Can we date this quote by Jonathan Swift and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary.
- 2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport:
- Stephen Ward then had to time his tackle excellently to deny Tarmo Kink as the Wolves winger slid the ball out of play before the Estonian could attempt to beat Given.
- (Can we date this quote by Jonathan Swift and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (informal) Rather or sooner than.
- I'll die before I'll tell you anything about it.
Synonyms
- (rather than): lest
Translations
in advance of the time when
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rather or sooner than
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
References
- “before”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)
- English lemmas
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- English terms with usage examples
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- Requests for date/John Ayliffe
- Requests for date/Thomas Carlyle
- Requests for date/Samuel Johnson
- English adverbs
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- Requests for date/Jonathan Swift
- English informal terms
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- en:Time