theretofore

[ thair-tuh-fawr, -fohr ]

/ ˌðɛər təˈfɔr, -ˈfoʊr /

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adverb

before or until that time.

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Origin of theretofore

First recorded in 1300–50, theretofore is from Middle English ther tofore. See there, heretofore

Words nearby theretofore

There's no place like home, there's no smoke without fire, there's no telling, there's no time like the present, thereto, theretofore, Return of the Native, The, thereunder, thereupon, There was a little girl / Who had a little curl, “There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use theretofore in a sentence

It's why a number of commentators who had theretofore said Benghazi was nothing was now something.
Will ABC Finger the Liar?|Michael Tomasky|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Did you attempt to compare it with the questioned items which you had, theretofore, identified?
Warren Commission (7 of 26): Hearings Vol. VII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
He prepared his ships and munitions of war, and sailing westward came to a country theretofore unknown.
A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County Volume II|Stephen M. Ostrander
Each discovery destroys in whole or part some theretofore cherished belief.
Humanity's Gain from Unbelief|Charles Bradlaugh

He was also allowed to revise and readjust the accounts theretofore settled under the Corporation Tax Law.
A Century in the Comptroller's Office, State of New York, 1797 to 1897|James A. Roberts
The stone was said to be spodumene, of a very high class, and had a a lilac tint theretofore unknown.
The Heritage of the Hills|Arthur P. Hankins

British Dictionary definitions for theretofore

theretofore

/ (ˌðɛətʊˈfɔː) /

adverb

formal before that time; previous to that

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