bygone

English

Etymology

From by (adverb) +‎ gone.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪɡɒn/, (dated) /-ɡɔːn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪɡɔn/, /-ɡɑn/
• Homophone: bigon (depending on the dialect)
• Hyphenation: by‧gone

Adjective

bygone (not comparable)

1. Having been or happened in the distant past.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     I had thought (Sir) to haue held my peace, vntill
     You had drawne Oathes from him, not to stay: you (Sir)
     Charge him too coldly. Tell him, you are sure
     All in Bohemia's well: this satisfaction,
     The by-gone-day proclaym'd, say this to him,
     He's beat from his best ward.
     

   • 1922, Williams, Margery, The Velveteen Rabbit:

     Near by he could see the thicket of raspberry canes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadow he had played with the Boy on bygone mornings.

   • 1962 June, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, page 399:

     Travellers over the London & North Western main line in bygone days will need no reminder of the pattering of cinders on the carriage roofs, the fountains of sparks from the chimneys at night and the distance from which the exhaust of approaching locomotives could be heard, due to the fierceness of their blast in such conditions.

   • 2011 April 8, Meister, Erin, “Reveling in the real Taiwain^{[sic – meaning Taiwan]}”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 April 2023, Travel‎^[2]:

     The modern, glass-fronted buildings surrounding the massive skyscraper Taipei 101 in the Xinyi District suggest a shift toward cleaner, starker development, but a trip to older parts of the city reveals hidden corners untouched by modernity.
     The oldest section, Wanhua, with its winding corridors and quiet decay, offers a glimpse of the city’s bygone days. At its bustling heart is the busy Longshan Temple. I bump past a flurry of tourists, worshipers and monks selling prayer beads outside the gates to reach the controlled chaos within, where hundreds of faithful light incense and present offerings at myriad shrines to Buddha and other deities.

Synonyms

• foregone, historical; see also Thesaurus:past

Translations

in the far past

• Belarusian: да́ўні (dáŭni)
• Bulgarian: минал (bg) (minal), предишен (bg) (predišen)
• Czech: minulý (cs), dávný (cs)
• Dutch: vervlogen (nl)
• Finnish: entinen (fi), mennyt (fi)
• French: d'autrefois, passé (fr) m
• German: vergangen (de)
• Greek: αλλοτινός (el) (allotinós), περασμένος (el) m (perasménos)
• Italian: passato (it) m, andato (it) m
• Latin: praeteritus
• Macedonian: дамнешен m (damnešen)
• Russian: про́шлый (ru) (próšlyj), да́вний (ru) (dávnij)
• Scots: lang syne
• Swedish: svunnen (sv), förgången (sv)
• Tocharian B: atit
• Ukrainian: да́вній (dávnij)

Noun

bygone (plural bygones)

1. (usually in the plural) An event that happened in the past.
   • 1881, Pearl Hyem, The fisherman's cove; or, Christianity realised, page 54:

     Jennie Fox watched it with thoughtful pleasure, and the rest were chatting and telling of bygones, enjoying a glass of egg-hot; it being a custom for them to partake of this beverage on this particular night.

Derived terms

• let bygones be bygones

Translations

A person or occurrence that took place in the past

• Dutch: het verleden, de dingen die voorbij zijn
• French: évènement passé m
• Russian: про́шлое (ru) n (próšloje) (past), было́е (ru) n (bylóje)

Anagrams

• gone by