definitions

antebellum

[ an-tee-bel-uh m ]
/ ˈæn tiˈbɛl əm /
|

adjective

before or existing before a war, especially the American Civil War; prewar: the antebellum plantations of Georgia.

RELATED CONTENT

What Kind Of Songs Get To Be Called “Country Music”?Past and present, country music—and what gets to be called country music—is far more complex than many realize.
READ MORE
What Kind Of Songs Get To Be Called “Country Music”?Past and present, country music—and what gets to be called country music—is far more complex than many realize.
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

prewar

Nearby words

ante-christum, ante-mortem, ante-nicene, ante-post, anteater, antebellum, antecede, antecedence, antecedency, antecedent, antecedents

Origin of antebellum

First recorded in 1860–65, antebellum is from the Latin word ante bellum before the war
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for antebellum

British Dictionary definitions for antebellum

antebellum

/ (ˌæntɪˈbɛləm) /

adjective

of or during the period before a war, esp the American Civil Warthe antebellum South

Word Origin for antebellum

Latin ante bellum, literally: before the war
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for antebellum

antebellum

[ (an-tee-bel-uhm) ]

A descriptive term for objects and institutions, especially houses, that originated three or four decades before the Civil War. Antebellum is Latin for “before the war.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.