before
UK /bɪˈfɔː/ · US /bɪˈfoɹ/ preposition, adverb, conjunction, noun
Forms befores befo befo' b4 be4
- preposition Earlier than (in time). “I want this done before Monday.”
- preposition In front of in space. “He stood before me.”
- preposition In the presence of. “He performed before the troops in North Africa.”
- preposition Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone). “The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.”
- preposition In store for, in the future of (someone). “Your whole life is before you.”
- preposition In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items. “In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".”
- preposition At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking. “An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, and amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.”
- adverb At an earlier time. “I've never done this before.”
- adverb (chiefly literary or poetic) In advance in position or sequence; ahead. “We walked behind while they went before.”
- adverb (uncommon) At the front end.
- conjunction In advance of the time when. “Brush your teeth before you go to bed.”
- conjunction (informal) Rather or sooner than. “I'll die before I('ll) tell you anything about it.”
- noun Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference before a specified treatment.
- noun (uncommon, often poetic) That which occurred or existed previously.
- noun (rare) A previous form or instance.
Synonyms
by no later than previous to prior to ante ere ahead of in front of previously ahead in front as soon as earlier
Antonyms
Etymology
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- preposition In front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house.
- preposition Preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; --sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that.
- adverb On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; --opposed to in the rear.
- adverb In advance. "I come before to tell you." Shak.
Etymology [OE. beforen, biforen, before, AS. beforan; pref. be- + foran, fore, before. See Be-, and Fore.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “before”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details