FromMiddle Englishafore,aforn, fromOld Englishonforan orætforan; equivalent toa- +fore.
afore (notcomparable)
- (archaic, dialect)Before.
1610–1611 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene ii]:Stephano: He's in his fit now ; and doe's not talke after the wiſeſt ; hee ſhall taſte of my Bottle : if hee haue neuer drunke wineafore, it will goe neere to remoue his Fit :[…]
1913,Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, inMr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London:D[aniel] Appleton and Company,→OCLC:A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summerafore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.
- (nautical) In thefore part of aship.
afore
- Before; in advance of the time of.
1902, John Buchan,The Outgoing of the Tide:He said he was jealous, and craved something to ease his care. 'It's but a small thing I ask,' says he, 'but it will make me a happy man, and nothing ever shall come atween us. Tryst wi' me for Beltane's E'en on the Sker sands, at the green link o' the burn where the sands begin, on the ebb o' the tide when midnight is by, butafore cockcrow. For,' said he, 'that was our forbears' tryst for true lovers, and wherefore no for you and me?'
1982, Edward Chisnall,Bell in the Tree: The Glasgow story:"Oh aye!" his face lit up with a smile. "I mind that! Where was that?" "That was us when we all worked in the shop,afore the War." "Oh aye …?" he frowned. "Who …?" She took the photograph back from him and reached inside her apron pocket for her spectacles.
- Before; situated geographically or metaphorically in front of.
afore
- In advance of the time when; before.
1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Ezekiel33:22:Now the hand of the Lord was vpon mee in the euening,afore hee that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth vntill hee came to mee in the morning, and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumbe.
āfore
- futureactiveinfinitive ofabsum
FromOld Englishonforan orætforan; equivalent toa- +fore.
afore
- before;afore
afore
- before;afore: in advance of the time of
- c. 1370–1450, Laurence de Premierfait,Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, as quoted inLydgate's Fall of Princes (1923, The Carnegie Institution of Washington):
Affor tyme thei wer but bestiall,
Till thei to resoun be lawes wer constreyned,
Vndir discrecioun bi statutis naturall- (pleaseadd an English translation of this quotation)
- before;afore: situated geographically or metaphorically in front of
- 1399, Rich. Redeless IV, 72
and somme were so ffers
at ffrist come,
that they bente on a bonet,
and bare a topte saile
affor the wynde ffresshely,
to make a good ffare- (pleaseadd an English translation of this quotation)
afore
- before;afore: in advance of the time when
āfōre
- second-personsingularpreteriteindicative ofāfaran
afore
- inflection ofaforar:
- first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
- third-personsingularimperative
FromMiddle Englishafore,aforn, fromOld Englishonforan orætforan; equivalent toa- +fore.
afore (notcomparable)
- (of place)before,in front
- (of time)before,previously,in advance
afore
- (of place)before,in front of
- (of time)before
afore
- (of place)before,rather than
- “afore,adv., prep., conj.”, inThe Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh:Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present,→OCLC.
- Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016)The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.
afore
- inflection ofaforar(“to gauge, to measure”):
- first/third-personsingularpresentsubjunctive
- third-personsingularimperative
