English Online Dictionary. What means before? What does before mean?
English
Alternative forms
- befo, befo' (African-American Vernacular, pronunciation spelling)
- b4, be4 (Internet slang)
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”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bĭfôʹ, IPA(key): /bɪˈfɔː/
- (General American) enPR: bəfôrʹ, bēfôrʹ, bĭfôrʹ, IPA(key): /bəˈfɔɹ/, /biˈfɔɹ/, /bɪˈfɔɹ/
- (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: bĭfōrʹ, IPA(key): /bɪˈfo(ː)ɹ/
- (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /bɪˈfoə/
- Hyphenation: be‧fore
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
Preposition
before
- Earlier than (in time).
- Synonyms: by, no later than, previous to, prior to, (obsolete) ere
- Antonyms: after, later than
- In front of in space.
- Synonyms: ahead of, in front of
- Antonym: behind
- In the presence of.
- Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
- In store for, in the future of (someone).
- In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
- Synonym: ahead of
- Antonym: after
- At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
Translations
Adverb
before (not comparable)
- At an earlier time.
- Synonym: previously
- Antonym: after
- (chiefly literary or poetic) In advance in position or sequence; ahead.
- Synonym: ahead
- (uncommon) At the front end.
- Synonym: in front
- Antonym: behind
Translations
Conjunction
before
- In advance of the time when.
- (informal) Rather or sooner than.
- Synonym: lest
Translations
Derived terms
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
- borfee