Yore

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /jɔː/

Definitions

1. Time long past or days of old
2. An ancient or remote time belonging to history now distant and gone
3. Days or times long ago in the past
4. A period of history or era that existed far back in time

Etymology: "Yore" survives today almost only in the phrase "of yore," meaning "in times long past," and it has an unusually transparent ancestry for a word so old. Its Old English form, "ġeāra," meant "long ago," and it is generally thought to derive from a Proto-Germanic phrase meaning literally "of years," the genitive plural of the ancient word for "year." In other words, "yore" is a fossil of a grammatical construction: speakers once said the equivalent of "of years gone by," and the phrase wore down into a single adverb-like word. The word came into Middle English in forms such as "yore," "yoare," and "yare," showing how loosely spelling was fixed before standard dictionaries. Its origin is not entirely settled, so the "of years" explanation should be read as the most probable account rather than certain fact.

Synonyms: past, history, former times, antiquity, days gone by

Antonyms: present, future, modern times, now, contemporary