time immemorial

American  

noun

1. Also called time out of mind.  time in the distant past beyond memory or record.

   Those carvings have been there from time immemorial.

2. Law. time beyond legal memory, fixed by statute in England as prior to the beginning of the reign of Richard I (1189).

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time immemorial British  

noun

1. the distant past beyond memory or record

2. law time beyond legal memory, fixed by English statute as before the reign of Richard I (1189)

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time immemorial Idioms  

1. Also, time out of mind. Long ago, beyond memory or recall, as in These ruins have stood here since time immemorial, or His office has been on Madison Avenue for time out of mind. The first expression comes from English law, where it signifies “beyond legal memory,” specifically before the reign of Richard I (1189–1199), fixed as the legal limit for bringing certain kinds of lawsuit. By about 1600 it was broadened to its present sense of “a very long time ago.” The variant, first recorded in 1432, uses mind in the sense of “memory” or “recall.”

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Etymology

Origin of time immemorial

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

time immemorial

One would think the viruses and bacteria that have tormented humanity since time immemorial would never find a friend in the species — human beings — they so routinely sicken and kill.

From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2025

Her memoir about her friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, “Just Kids,” will inspire bright young things for time immemorial, and albums like “Horses”and “Easter” still sound as bracing they did on release day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

Blackfoot people know that their ancestors, since time immemorial, have lived across the Rocky Mountains’s eastern slopes and adjacent plains of what is now Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024

This park, and all of Nunavut, is Inuit Nunangat -- Inuit homeland in Canada -- and the park protects sites and biodiversity stewarded by Inuit since time immemorial.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024

Merchants had been making and losing money since time immemorial.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton