English Explanatory Dictionary

before

English dictionary entry

Meanings

prep
  1. Earlier than (in time).
  2. In front of in space.
  3. In the presence of.
  4. Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
  5. In store for, in the future of (someone).
  6. In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
  7. At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
adv
  1. At an earlier time.
  2. In advance in position or sequence; ahead.
  3. At the front end.
conj
  1. In advance of the time when.
  2. Rather or sooner than.
noun
  1. Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference before a specified treatment.
  2. That which occurred or existed previously.
  3. A previous form or instance.

Pronunciation

bĭfôʹ /bɪˈfɔː/ bĭfôrʹ bēfôrʹ bəfôrʹ /bɪˈfoɹ/ /biˈfoɹ/ /bəˈfoɹ/ en-us-before.ogg /bɪˈfoː/ /bəˈfoː/ bĭfōrʹ /bɪˈfo(ː)ɹ/ /bɪˈfoə/

Word forms

before befo befo' b4 be4 befores

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Old English be- Old English foran Old English beforan Middle English bifore English before Inherited from Middle English before /bifore, 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”).

Synonyms

by no later than previous to prior to ere ahead of in front of previously ahead in front as soon as

Antonyms

after later than behind

Derived words

accessary before the fact accessory before the fact age before beauty a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on before-and-after before and after beforecited before dark before GTA 6 beforehand before image journal before it was cool before long beforely beforemath beforementioned before-mentioned beforenamed beforeness beforenoon before one can blink before one knows it before one knows where one is before one's eyes beforesaid before someone's time beforestated before the fact before the ink had time to dry before the ink was dry before the mast beforetime before times before you can say Jack Robinson before you can say knife best before best-before date best before date boldly go where no man has gone before bow down before the porcelain god bros before hoes bros before hos business before pleasure calm before the storm carry all before one carry everything before one carry the world before one cast pearls before swine check yourself before you wreck yourself chicks before dicks come before crawl before one can walk crawl before one walks cross a bridge before one comes to it day before yesterday dicks before chicks don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched don't count your chickens before they're hatched don't count your chickens before they've hatched feels before reals
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