Etimology
From Middle English before, bifore (adverb and preposition), from Old English beforan, from be- + foran (“before”), from fore, from Proto-Germanic *furai, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“front”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian befoar (“before”), German Low German bevör (“before”), German bevor (“before”).
preposition
before
Earlier than (in time).
In front of in space.
In the presence of.
Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
In store for, in the future of (someone).
In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
Examples
I want this done before Monday.
We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.
He stood before me.
We sat before the fire to warm ourselves.
His angel, who shall go / Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire.
He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. […] But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again […] she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.
The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
He performed before the troops in North Africa.
He spoke before a joint session of Congress.
The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.
If a suit be begun before an archdeacon […]
The golden age […] is before us.
There is an Eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who art so much afraid of the aeons that shall pass?
In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".
An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.
He that cometh after me is preferred before me.
Related words
synonyms
(earlier than in time): by, no later than, previous to, prior to, ere (obsolete)
(in front of in space): ahead of, in front of
(in front of according to an ordering system): ahead of
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "earlier than in time"): after, later than
(antonym(s) of "in front of in space"): behind
(antonym(s) of "in front of according to an ordering system"): after
adverb
before (not comparable)
At an earlier time.
In advance.
At the front end.
Examples
I've never done this before.
All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.
When people call this beast to mind,They marvel more and moreAt such a little tail behind,So LARGE a trunk before.
Related words
synonyms
(at an earlier time): previously
(in advance): ahead
(at the front end): in front
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "at an earlier time"): after
(antonym(s) of "at the front end"): behind
conjunction
before
In advance of the time when.
(informal) Rather or sooner than.
Examples
But before this elaborate treatise can become of universal use and ornament to my native country, two points […] are absolutely necessary.
Stephen Ward then had to time his tackle excellently to deny Tarmo Kink as the Wolves winger slid the ball out of play before the Estonian could attempt to beat Given.
I'll die before I'll tell you anything about it.
Related words
synonyms
(rather than): lest