Beforn

Part of speech: adverb, preposition

Definitions

1. An archaic adverb or preposition meaning earlier in time or previously, or located in front of something
2. An old-fashioned term indicating that something came earlier in time or stands ahead in position
3. Archaic word expressing that an event happened at an earlier point or that a thing lies in advance of another

Etymology: In Middle English, "beforn" was simply another spelling of "before," alongside "biforen" and "biforn," the forms that scribes used as English spelling was still unsettled. It belongs to the same family as Old English "beforan," which combined "be-" with "foran," meaning "in front." The two parts map neatly onto the modern word: "be-" is a prefix that adds a sense of location, and "fore" carries the idea of front, as in "forehead" and "foreground." The final "-n" is a leftover from the older inflected ending, which is why the spelling kept a consonant that modern English dropped. Spellings like this were common through the Middle English period, and the form has long since disappeared from ordinary use. Its main interest is as evidence of how the modern word was spelled before standardization fixed it.

Synonyms: before, previously, formerly

Antonyms: after, afterward