Before

• POS: Conjunction, Preposition, Adverb
• HYPHEN: be=fore

CIDE DICTIONARY

Before, prep. [OE. beforen, biforen, before, AS. beforan; pref. be- + foran, fore, before. See Be-, and Fore.].

•  In front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house.  [1913 Webster]

  "His angel, who shall go
  Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire."  [1913 Webster]
•  Preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; -- sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that.  [1913 Webster]

  " Formerly before, in this sense, was followed by that. “Before that Philip called thee . . . I saw thee.”"  John i. 48.  [1913 Webster]

  "Before Abraham was, I am."  [1913 Webster]

  "Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary."  [1913 Webster]
•  An advance of; farther onward, in place or time.  [1913 Webster]

  "The golden age . . . is before us."  [1913 Webster]
•  Prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than.  [1913 Webster]

  "He that cometh after me is preferred before me."  [1913 Webster]

  "The eldest son is before the younger in succession."  [1913 Webster]
•  In presence or sight of; face to face with; facing.  [1913 Webster]

  "Abraham bowed down himself before the people."  [1913 Webster]

  "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?"  [1913 Webster]
•  Under the cognizance or jurisdiction of.  [1913 Webster]

  "If a suit be begun before an archdeacon."  [1913 Webster]
•  Open for; free of access to; in the power of.  [1913 Webster]

  "The world was all before them where to choose."  [1913 Webster]

Before the mast (Naut.), as a common sailor, -- because the sailors live in the forecastle, forward of the foremast. -- Before the wind (Naut.), in the direction of the wind and by its impulse; having the wind aft.

Before, adv. 

•  On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; -- opposed to in the rear.  [1913 Webster]

  "The battle was before and behind."  [1913 Webster]
•  In advance.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  In time past; previously; already.  [1913 Webster]

  "You tell me, mother, what I knew before."  [1913 Webster]
•  Earlier; sooner than; until then.  [1913 Webster]

  " Before is often used in self-explaining compounds; as, before-cited, before-mentioned; beforesaid."  [1913 Webster]

  "When the butt is out, we will drink water; not a drop before."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Before, conj., prep., & adv.
--conj.
1 earlier than the time when (crawled before he walked).
2 rather than that (would starve before he stole).
--prep.
1 a in front of (before her in the queue). b ahead of (crossed the line before him). c under the impulse of (recoil before the attack). d awaiting (the future before them).
2 earlier than; preceding (Lent comes before Easter).
3 rather than (death before dishonour).
4 a in the presence of (appear before the judge). b for the attention of (a plan put before the committee).
--adv.
1 a earlier than the time in question; already (heard it before). b in the past (happened long before).
2 ahead (go before).
3 on the front (hit before and behind).

Idiom

Before Christ (of a date) reckoned backwards from the birth of Christ. before God a solemn oath meaning 'as God sees me'. before time see TIME.

Etymology

OE beforan f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Before

above, aforetime, ahead, ahead of time, already, ante, before all, before now, beforehand, beforetime, betimes, by choice, by election, by vote, confronting, earlier, early, ere, ere then, erenow, erewhile, erst, erstwhile, facing, first, fore, foremost, foresightedly, formerly, forward, headmost, hereinabove, hereinbefore, heretofore, historically, hitherto, in advance, in advance of, in anticipation, in anticipation of, in front, in front of, in preference, in preference to, in preparation for, in the forefront, in the foreground, in the front, in the future, in the lead, in the past, in times past, once, only yesterday, or ever, preceding, precociously, preferably, prehistorically, previous, previous to, previously, prior to, priorly, rather, rather than, recently, sooner, sooner than, supra, then, theretofore, till, to, to come, to the fore, to the front, until, up ahead, up to, whilom, yesterday, yet

ROGET THESAURUS

Before

Choice

N choice, option, discretion, preoption, alternative, dilemma, embarras de choix, adoption, cooptation, novation, decision, election, political election (politics), selection, excerption, gleaning, eclecticism, excerpta, gleanings, cuttings, scissors and paste, pick, preference, prelation, opinion poll, survey, predilection, optional, discretional, eclectic, choosing, preferential, chosen, choice, optionally, at pleasure, either the one or the other, or at the option of, whether or not, once and for all, for one's money, by choice, by preference, in preference, rather, before.

Precedence

N precedence, coming before, the lead, le pas, superiority, importance, antecedence, antecedency, anteriority, precursor, priority, precession, anteposition, epacme, preference, preceding, precedent, antecedent, anterior, prior, before, former, foregoing, beforementioned, abovementioned, aforementioned, aforesaid, said, precursory, precursive, prevenient, preliminary, prefatory, introductory, prelusive, prelusory, proemial, preparatory, before, in advance, seniores priores, prior tempore prior jure, precedence, coming before, the lead, le pas, superiority, importance, antecedence, antecedency, anteriority, precursor, priority, precession, anteposition, epacme, preference, preceding, precedent, antecedent, anterior, prior, before, former, foregoing, beforementioned, abovementioned, aforementioned, aforesaid, said, precursory, precursive, prevenient, preliminary, prefatory, introductory, prelusive, prelusory, proemial, preparatory, before, in advance, seniores priores, prior tempore prior jure.

Priority

N priority, antecedence, anteriority, precedence, pre-existence, precession, precursor, the past, premises, prior, previous, preceding, precedent, anterior, antecedent, pre- existing, pre-existent, former, foregoing, aforementioned, before- mentioned, abovementioned, aforesaid, said, introductory, before, prior to, earlier, previously, afore, aforehand, beforehand, ere, theretofore, erewhile, ere then, ere now, before then, before now, erewhile, already, yet, beforehand, on the eve of, prior tempore prior jure.

Presence

N presence, occupancy, occupation, attendance, whereness, permeation, pervasion, diffusion, ubiety, ubiquity, ubiquitariness, omnipresence, bystander, present, occupying, inhabiting, moored, resiant, resident, residentiary, domiciled, ubiquitous, ubiquitary, omnipresent, universally present, peopled, populous, full of people, inhabited, here, there, where, everywhere, aboard, on board, at home, afield, here there and everywhere, in presence of, before, under the eyes of, under the nose of, in the face of, in propria persona, on the spot, in person, in the flesh, nusquam est qui ubique est.

Front

N front, fore, forepart, foreground, face, disk, disc, frontage, facade, proscenium, facia, frontispiece, anteriority, obverse (of a medal or coin), fore rank, front rank, van, vanguard, advanced guard, outpost, first line, scout, brow, forehead, visage, physiognomy, phiz, countenance, mut, rostrum, beak, bow, stem, prow, prore, jib, pioneer, metoposcopy, fore, anterior, front, frontal, before, in front, in the van, in advance, ahead, right ahead, forehead, foremost, in the foreground, in the lee of, before one's face, before one's eyes, face to face, vis-a-vis, front a front, formosa muta commendatio est, frons est animi janua, Human face divine, imago animi vultus est indices oculi, sea of upturned faces.

Precession

N precession, leading, heading, precedence, priority, the lead, le pas, van, precursor, leading, precedent, in advance, before, ahead, in the van, in the lead, foremost, headmost, in front, at the head, out in front, way out in front, far ahead, seniores priores, ahead of his time.