Abovementioned

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /əˌbʌvˈmɛnʃənd/

Definitions

1. Related to a matter or point that has been previously discussed in the text
2. Pertaining to a subject that has already been referred to in earlier content
3. Connected to an item or topic introduced earlier in the text

Etymology: "Abovementioned" is a plain compound: "above" joined to "mentioned," the past participle of "mention," so it means "mentioned above." Its history is largely the history of its first half. "Above" grew out of Old English "abufan," formed from "ā" (an old prefix suggesting "on" or "in") and "bufan" (above, over), and that Old English word itself traces back to a Proto-Germanic compound built on the idea of being up or on top. The sense of "over" or "higher than" stayed close to the surface for centuries, and "above" gradually came to be used in writing to point back to earlier text. "Mention" entered English from Latin "mentio," meaning a reference or remark, and the word "mentioned" simply took on the participle ending once the verb was in use. Joining the two into a single adjective is a practical act of writing rather than a story of its own: a writer wanted a tidy way to say "the thing already referred to" without repeating a phrase.

Synonyms: aforementioned, previously mentioned