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antebellum

[an-tee-bel-uh m]
See more synonyms for antebellum on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. before or existing before a war, especially the American Civil War; prewar: the antebellum plantations of Georgia.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for antebellum

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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.

British Dictionary definitions for antebellum

antebellum

adjective
  1. of or during the period before a war, esp the American Civil Warthe antebellum South
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Word Origin

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.”

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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.