beforehand

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English before hand, also beforen hand, originally written separately,^[2][3][4] formed from English before + hand.^[5][6][2][7] Etymonline finds the sense of hand here unclear, unless the first idea was payment in advance or something done before another person's hand could do it.^[6] The OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English think it was influenced in later use by Anglo-Norman avantmain (“in advance”) (by about 1285), used of payment in advance and in general, and by Old French avant les mains and avant la main, which meant the same;^[5][4][3] the OED compares Latin prae manū (“at hand, in readiness”) and the English aforehand.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ahead of time, in advance: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[5] Etymonline dates it to the early 13th century,^[6] Merriam-Webster to the 13th,^[2] and Dictionary.com to 1175–1225.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From about 1325, in the chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, it was used especially of money paid in advance.^[5] It could also mean simply "previously", without the idea of anticipation, from about 1330, a use that later became rare.^[5] From 1526 to the mid-19th century to have beforehand meant to have more money than one needed;^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "in a state of accumulation",^[8] and the Shorter Oxford calls this use archaic.^[3] The phrase to be beforehand with, to anticipate or forestall, is recorded from 1574, in Golding's translation of Calvin.^[5][3][8] The word was hyphenated from the 18th century and written as one word from the 19th.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – in advance, in anticipation, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[5]
• c. 1325 – of payment in advance.^[5]
• c. 1330 – previously, before the time in question.^[5]
• 1526 – having more than enough money (obsolete by 1849).^[5]
• 1574 – to be beforehand with, to anticipate or forestall.^[5]
• 1700s – written with a hyphen; one word from the 1800s.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In advance; ahead of time: Ring the restaurant beforehand to book a table.^[9][2][5]
2. In anticipation, so as to be prepared.^[2][5][8]
3. Earlier; previously.^[2][5]

Adjective

1. (after a noun or verb) Early, in advance;^[9][3] be beforehand with: to anticipate or forestall.^[9][3][5]
2. (archaic) Having more money than one needs; in funds.^[3][5][8]

Related words

• before
• hand
• aforehand
• forehand

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins