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theretofore

[th air-tuh-fawr, -fohr]
See more synonyms for theretofore on Thesaurus.com
adverb
  1. before or until that time.
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Origin of theretofore

First recorded in 1300–50, theretofore is from the Middle English word ther tofore. See there, heretofore
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for theretofore

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Life's naked brutalities had theretofore been largely out of his ken.

    The Black Bag

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • Immediately, as if nothing but her eye had prevented it theretofore, the search was instituted.

    Nobody

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • For Cleopatra, theretofore, had held her own against the best.

    Too Old for Dolls

    Anthony Mario Ludovici

  • No, not quite that expression as it always had been theretofore, but a modified form of it.

    The Grain Of Dust

    David Graham Phillips

  • Theretofore, the Christians had been silent from discipline, now they were silent from wonder.

    The Fair God

    Lew Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for theretofore

theretofore

adverb
  1. formal before that time; previous to that
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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