antebellum

[an-tee-bel-uh m]

adjective

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

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

Related Words for antebellum

prewar

Examples from the Web for antebellum

Contemporary Examples of antebellum

I know Tom Woods is an intriguing writer, and I too love my liberty, but this is no longer the antebellum era.
Rand Paul and Nullification
Justin Green
January 17, 2013

Historical Examples of antebellum

Banjos and fiddles (violins) were owned only limitedly by antebellum Negroes.
Negro Folk Rhymes
Thomas W. Talley
The subjects upon which the antebellum Negro preached, however, were comparatively few.
Negro Folk Rhymes
Thomas W. Talley
That was in the antebellum days, before men realized they couldn't oppress their fellows with impunity.
The Open Question
Elizabeth Robins
If Republicans stand for crude force, and Democrats for antebellum sentimentality, both are doomed together.
Psycho-Phone Messages
Francis Grierson
It is as handsome as their splendid plate of antebellum days, which was destroyed by fire.
Ainslee's magazine, Volume 16, No. 3, October, 1905
Various

British Dictionary definitions for antebellum

antebellum

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

Word Origin and History for antebellum

adj.

also ante-bellum, from Latin phrase ante bellum, literally "before the war;" see ante- + bellicose. In U.S., usually in reference to the American Civil War (1861-65); first attested in a June 14, 1862, entry in Mary Chesnut's diary.

antebellum in Culture

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.”