before

Etymology

From Middle English before, bifore (adverb and preposition), from Old English beforan, from be- + foran (“before”), from fore, from Proto-Germanic *furai, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“front”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian befoar (“before”), German Low German bevör (“before”), German bevor (“before”).

prep

1. Earlier than (in time).
   I want this done before Monday.
2. In front of in space.
   He stood before me.
   We sat before the fire to warm ourselves.
   The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight. 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist
3. In the presence of.
   He performed before the troops in North Africa.
   He spoke before a joint session of Congress.
4. Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
   The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.
   If a suit be begun before an archdeacon[…] 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani
5. In store for, in the future of (someone).
6. In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
   In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".
7. At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
   An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.

adv

1. At an earlier time.
   I've never done this before.
2. In advance.
3. At the front end.
   When people call this beast to mind, They marvel more and more At such a little tail behind, So LARGE a trunk before. 1896, Hilaire Belloc, “The Elephant”, in The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts

conj

1. In advance of the time when.
   Stephen Ward then had to time his tackle excellently to deny Tarmo Kink as the Wolves winger slid the ball out of play before the Estonian could attempt to beat Given. November 11, 2011, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport
2. (informal) Rather or sooner than.
   I'll die before I'll tell you anything about it.