Tofore

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. At an earlier time or in the past, as an archaic word for previously and before
2. Formerly, or in a time gone by, a term found in older English writing
3. Earlier in time, before the present moment, a literary and archaic adverb

Etymology: "Tofore" is a fossil from the Middle Ages, a word that survives mainly in legal and archaic writing. It descends from Old English "tōforan," built from "tō" ("to") and "foran," the dative form of "fora," meaning "front." Put together, the parts mean roughly "to the front of," so the original sense was spatial: standing in front of something. Over the centuries the spatial meaning gave way to time, with "before" in the sense of "earlier," which is the sense it carries today. The word also shows how the same pattern appeared across the Germanic languages. Dutch "tevoren" ("previously") and German "zuvor" ("before, previously") are built on the same idea of being placed in front, so English "tofore" is a cousin of words that are still in everyday use in those languages.

Synonyms: previously, formerly, before, theretofore

Antonyms: afterward, subsequently, later