auparavant

Forms

auparavant (invariable)^[1] Middle French paravant “before, previously” was used in the same sense.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French au + par + avant, a strengthened form of the adverb built on the phrase par avant (“in former time”).^[4][5][3][1] The adverb is from Late Latin abante, which was both an adverb and a preposition and competed with Classical Latin ante.^[6][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded from the 14th century: the DMF quotes it from Daudin's De la erudition (about 1360–1380), meaning “beforehand”,^[2] and the GLLF from the Chronique de Flandres.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the start it marked that one event came before another.^[2][8] It was long used as a preposition and in conjunctions: auparavant que with the infinitive from 1400 and the subjunctive from 1438, replaced by auparavant que de (1626); these turns are now dated.^[4][5] The shorter paravant was still common in the 16th century, as in Rabelais.^[3] In modern French auparavant is an adverb of time, and d'auparavant after a noun means “previous”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1360–1380 – Daudin uses auparavant “beforehand”.^[2]
• 1389 – Par avant “before, in earlier time”.^[4]
• 1400 – Auparavant que with the infinitive.^[4]
• 1438 – Auparavant que with the subjunctive.^[4]
• 1626 – Auparavant que de.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Beforehand, previously, before a given time or event: trois jours auparavant.^[9][8][1]
2. D'auparavant: previous, former, after a noun: la veille d'auparavant.^[8]
3. (classical) As a preposition, avant;^[5][4] auparavant que (de) “before (doing)”.^[5][4]

Related words

• avant
• devant
• davantage
• Late Latin abante

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 3a
8. ^ a b c d Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert