What does before mean?
Definitions for before
bɪˈfɔr, -ˈfoʊrbe·fore
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word before.
Princeton's WordNet
earlier, beforeadverb
earlier in time; previously
"I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"; "her parents had died four years earlier"; "I mentioned that problem earlier"
ahead, in front, beforeadverb
at or in the front
"I see the lights of a town ahead"; "the road ahead is foggy"; "staring straight ahead"; "we couldn't see over the heads of the people in front"; "with the cross of Jesus marching on before"
Wiktionary
beforeadverb
at an earlier time
I've never done this before.
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforeadverb
in advance
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforeconjunction
in advance of the time when
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforeconjunction
rather or sooner than
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforepreposition
Earlier than (in time).
I want this done before Monday.
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforepreposition
In front of in space.
He stood before me.
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforepreposition
Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforepreposition
In store for, in the future of (someone).
The period before us looks grim because of the economical crisis.
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforepreposition
In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
beforepreposition
At a higher or greater position in a subjective ranking.
An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.
Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)
Webster Dictionary
Before
in front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house
Before
preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; -- sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that
Before
an advance of; farther onward, in place or time
Before
prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than
Before
in presence or sight of; face to face with; facing
Before
under the cognizance or jurisdiction of
Before
open for; free of access to; in the power of
Beforeadverb
on the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; -- opposed to in the rear
Beforeadverb
in advance
Beforeadverb
in time past; previously; already
Beforeadverb
earlier; sooner than; until then
Freebase
Before
"Before" is a single by UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys released as the first single from the group's 1996 album Bilingual. The single, upon its release, peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play and reached #7 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, equalling #107 on the main U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Before
be-fōr′, prep. in front of (time or place): in presence or sight of (Before God): under the cognisance of, as in before the court, the magistrate, or the house: previous to: in preference to: superior to.—adv. in front: sooner than hitherto.—conj. previous to the time when (often with that).—advs. Before′hand, before the time: by way of preparation; Before′time, in former time.—To be beforehand with, to forestall in any action. [A.S. beforan. See Fore.]
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'before' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #180
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'before' in Written Corpus Frequency: #312
Adverbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'before' in Adverbs Frequency: #82
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of before in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of before in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of before in a Sentence
Don't allow the ego fruit to ripen before it falls.
The Chinese situation sets the agenda right now in combination with oil prices, before we see some meaningful transparency from China in its actions and some stability in the commodity markets, we are not going to get a stabilization.
I’m having to take some time off work and my husband is arranging to work from home in the afternoons so he can pick up, we’re starting a new school year in a new school in a new state, and now here’s one more thing that wasn’t on our radar before.
The company showed a degree of confidence in a return to service before year-end and getting up to 57 per month on 737 production in about 12 months, which investors were increasingly skeptical of.
I think the fact they're going through the bill section by section at 5:15 p.m. the day before the bill is going to be voted on is indicative of there is more work that needs to be done.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for before
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- قبل, أمامArabic
- преди да, пред, предварително, предиBulgarian
- rak, ragBreton
- davant, abansCatalan, Valencian
- předCzech
- forud, før, inden, tidligere, foran, hellereDanish
- vor, eher, zuvor, bevor, vorn, im Voraus, vorneGerman
- μπροστά σε, πριν, μπροστά απόGreek
- antaŭe, antaŭEsperanto
- ante, antes que, antes de, antesSpanish
- پیش از, قبلPersian
- aikaisemmin, edessä, ennen, aiemminFinnish
- áður, fyrrFaroese
- avant, avant que, devantFrench
- foarWestern Frisian
- roimheScottish Gaelic
- לפניHebrew
- पहले, से पहलेHindi
- előttHungarian
- առջև, առաջ, առջևումArmenian
- anteInterlingua
- sebelumIndonesian
- áður, fyrrIcelandic
- innanzi, prima, davantiItalian
- 前Japanese
- پێش, لهمهوپێش, berîKurdish
- ante, prae, prōLatin
- muaMāori
- sebelumMalay
- quddiem, qabelMaltese
- foranNorwegian
- vóór, eerder dan, alvorens, op voorhand, vroeger, vooraf, voordat, voordien, voorheen, vooraleer, eerderDutch
- framanfor, føreNorwegian Nynorsk
- førNorwegian
- przedPolish
- na frente de, [[antes]] [[de]], primeiro, diante de, em frente a, ante, antesPortuguese
- avantRomansh
- înainte, dinainteRomanian
- до, раньше, заранее, прежде, передRussian
- pred, prijeSerbo-Croatian
- predSlovene
- paraAlbanian
- hellre, framför, innan, före, förr, förut, förrän, inför, tidigareSwedish
- awaliSwahili
- ముందు, ఎదర, ముందుగాలTelugu
- เมื่อก่อนThai
- önceTurkish
- پہلےUrdu
- trước đây, đằng trước, trướcVietnamese
- divant, divant kiWalloon
- 之前Chinese
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"before." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 27 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/before>.
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