aforetimeadv.n.adj.

1433 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. July 1433 §21. m. 14 In maner..as it hath be paied and rered afore tyme.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 65 (MED) And if a man scholde see hit now, considrenge what that cite was a fore tyme, hit scholde move hym to be soory.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Dan. vi. B Like as his maner was to do afore tyme.

1611 Bible (King James) Dan. vi. 10 As hee did afore time . View more context for this quotation

1695 J. Williams Serm. St. Lawrence Jewry 14 What do we now think of the tedious and mischievous Controversy aforetime about Leaven in the Sacrament?

1739 J. Wesley Let. 4 Apr. (1931) I. 291 These are my living arguments for what I assert—that God now, as aforetime, gives remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, which may be called visions.

1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 30 Which aforetime had been a house for a residentiary of St. Paul's.

1857 S. Winkworth tr. J. Tauler Serm. xxv. 391 The light in which he walked aforetime.

1880 J. Muirhead tr. Gaius Institutes i. 24 Neither can I marry her who has aforetime been my mother-in-law.

1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Magic Mountain II. vi. 585 Oh, as far as the Devil was concerned, they two had talked about him aforetime, hadn't they?

2004 N.Y. Times 7 Nov. vi. 20/3 Why don't we just go with the familiar synonym..which aforetime won the 600-year usage battle?

1803 S. T. Coleridge Let. 5 Dec. (1956) II. 1023 A high Mountain, in aforetime covered with vegetations.

1846 G. Grote Hist. Greece I. i. i. 58 Fancy, which fills up the blank of the aforetime.

1902 Smart Set July 90/2 Mrs. Gwyn-Williams was playing soft dream things of Grieg's now, faint whispers of an aforetime.

1997 Southern Literary Jrnl. 30 46 A temporal reach from the aforetime of native lore..to the disasters of recent history.

1835 Lady's Mag. Jan. 13 The..royal alliance hath so raised the aforetime drooping spirits of the friends of Lancaster.

1899 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 2 Sept. 578/1 The aforetime treatment of fevers was unsuited and damaging to the type of fever in that epidemic.

1940 Eng. Hist. Rev. 55 679 In spite of its age and the aforetime importance of its trade, the Poulters' Company has no records earlier than 1587.

1969 H. Knight & G. Ogg tr. F. Hahn Titles of Jesus in Christol. iv. 264 It is quite likely that at the basis of the whole there lies an aforetime independent magi story.