beyond

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /biˈɒnd/, US /biˈɑːnd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English biyonde,^[2][3] inherited from Old English begeondan (“on the other side of, from the farther side”),^[4][3] from Old English be- (“by”) + geondan (“from the farther side”),^[3][5][2] from geond (“yonder”), with the suffix -an “from”,^[3][4] from Germanic *jand-.^[5] It is a compound not found elsewhere in Germanic.^[4] It is related to yond and yonder.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English begeondan is recorded probably about 885, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;^[3] the form beionde is from 1154 and biyond from before 1325, in Cursor Mundi.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Beyond seas, “out of the country”, is Old English.^[7] “Further on than” is from the late 14th century (1382),^[4][7] and “out of reach of” from the 1530s.^[4] To be beyond someone, “to pass their understanding”, is by 1812.^[4] The noun, the beyond, the unknown or the world after death, is a later use.^[8][9] In Irish and Scots dialect the word is pronounced beyant or beyont.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 885 – Old English begeondan.^[3]
• 1154 – the form beionde.^[3]
• 1382 – further on than.^[7]
• 1530s – out of reach of.^[4]
• 1812 – beyond someone, past their understanding.^[4]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. On or to the far side of.
2. Later than; past: beyond midnight.
3. Out of the reach or scope of: beyond belief.
4. More than; exceeding.
5. Apart from; besides.

Adverb

1. Farther away; further on.

Noun

1. (the beyond) The unknown, or the life after death.

Word family

• beyondness
• back of beyond

Related words

• yond
• yonder
• by
• hereafter

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)