beforetime
Americanadverb
adverb
Etymology
Origin of beforetime
First recorded in 1250–1300, beforetime is from Middle English bifor time. See before, time
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Is this the beforetime for Johns, a memory of a time before he decided to be an artist, before he turned inward and began to live almost entirely in his head?
From Washington Post • Sep. 29, 2021
They did not mean to act any lie by this means, however, for the tin vessels were not made for the purposes of deception, but had been there beforetime.
From Pine Needles by Warner, Susan
When the king heard the miracle of the quern-stone, he accepted those two vessels, and gave his liberty to Saint Kiaranus; for beforetime he would not for anger accept a ransom for him.
From The Latin & Irish Lives of Ciaran Translations Of Christian Literature. Series V. Lives Of The Celtic Saints by MacAlister, R.A. Stewart
On the other hand, none can say beforetime what any man can endure unless he has been tested.
From A Volunteer with Pike The True Narrative of One Dr. John Robinson and of His Love for the Fair Señorita Vallois by Bennet, Robert Ames
You have cleverly fooled me beforetime, With a dainty scorn, and then an imploring forgiveness!
From Poems by Howells, William Dean
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
