before

== 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: bĭfôrʹ, bēfôrʹ, bəfôrʹ, IPA(key): /bɪˈfɔɹ/, /biˈfɔɹ/, /bəˈfɔɹ/ (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. Antonym: after Near-synonym: no later than (informal) Rather or sooner than. Synonym: as soon as Coordinate terms: no sooner than, lest ==== Translations ==== === Noun === before (plural befores) Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference before a specified treatment. Coordinate term: after (uncommon, often poetic) That which occurred or existed previously. (rare) A previous form or instance. === 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