before

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adv. foremost, ahead; forward; beforehand, sooner, previously, heretofore. See priority, precedence.Ant., after.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [In time]

Syn. previously, earlier, in the past, since, already, gone by, ago, in old days, heretofore, formerly, anteriorly, antecedently, in days of yore, back, sooner, up to now, ahead, in front, in advance, beforehand, afore, ere, facing, BP, before the present.

Ant. in the future, to come, now*.

2. [In space]

Syn. ahead, in advance, in front, advanced; see ahead 2 .

prep.

Syn. prior to, previous to, in front of, ahead of, ere, in the presence of, in the sight of, earlier than, anterior to, under jurisdiction of, antecedent to.

Ant. behind*, following, at the rear of.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) prep.

previous to, preceding, prior to, ahead of.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adverb 1. At a time in the past: already, earlier, erstwhile, formerly, once, previously. Archaic: aforetime, beforetime. See PRECEDE. 2. Up to this time: earlier, heretofore, previously, yet. See PRECEDE. 3. Until then: beforehand, earlier. See PRECEDE.