tofore

• toforne (14th – 16th centuries)

From Middle English tofore, toforn, from Old English tōforan (“in front of”), from tō (“to”) + foran (“front, fore-part”, n.), dative case of fora (“front”). Compare Dutch tevoren (“previously”), German zuvor (“before, previously”). More at to, fore.

tofore

1. (obsolete) Before.

tofore (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Before.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus:

     Farewell, Lavinia, my noble sister ; O would thou wert as thou tofore hast been!

tofore

1. (obsolete) Before.

• foetor, footer, fœtor, refoot

• (adverb and preposition): toforen, tofor, toforon, toforn, toforne, toforan, toffor, toffore, tofforn, toforowe, tofour, tovor, tovore, tovoren, tefor, tefore, teforen
• (conjunction): toforn, tofor, to-fore, to-forn, to-for

From Old English tōforan.

tofore

1. In front, ahead; in the first position in a sequence.
2. At a prior time; beforehand, earlier.
3. (in texts) Found above; found in a prior section.

tofore

1. In front of.
2. Closer than something (with reference to the speaker).
3. In the presence of; before.
4. Earlier than; prior to.
5. To a degree greater than; moreso than.

tofore

1. Indicates that the antecedent clause occurred before the consequent clause in time.
   • Sir Thomas Malory

     Never sith myght he be heled, ne nought shal tofore we come to hym.

• As a conjunction, tofore is often paired with þat.

• “tofore(n, adv.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 April 2018.
• “tofore(n, prep.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 April 2018.
• “tofore, conj.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 April 2018.