afore
1
9.9
- adposition
- /əˈfɔː/
- Archaic
:
delante
- In the old days, people would rise early afore the sun to start their daily chores.
Examples
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Shake hands afore you change your mind again.
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Now, shall I speak afore Mr Hunt or after him?
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And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
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Best find me some winks afore the day draws farther on.
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"Better see what's what afore the professors stab each other with quills or something.
Blog text (23) -
"My pappy was a Democrat and my grandpappy afore him was a Democrat; we McCoys have always been Democrats, and we don't see any reason to change now."
Blog text (8) -
The townsfolk gathered at the square, remembering those who stood afore them in the struggle for freedom.
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They had to present their case afore the council before any decisions could be made.
Synonyms
575
1.0
In front of people or things
Surface Forms
Morphology
afore = (semi-transparent) = a + fore
The form is historically compositional as a- + fore, but the archaic prefix and limited modern productivity make the meaning only partly transparent to contemporary learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'fore' from base_words to prefix]
Etymology
Afore comes from old English parts a- ('at' or 'in') and fore ('front' or 'before'), so it originally meant being 'at the front' of something. That's why to stand afore the king is to be 'in front of' him.