adj, adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Beforehand in condition; forehanded.

   "He is aforehand with the world."

Adverb

1. 1
   Beforehand; in advance; in anticipation. archaic, dialectal, not-comparable

   "[S]he is come aforehand to anoint my body[.]"

Synonyms

All synonyms

formerlysometimeswhilerewhilom

Example

More examples

"[S]he is come aforehand to anoint my body[.]"

Etymology

From Middle English aforehande, equivalent to afore- + hand. Compare Scots aforehaund.

Related phrases

in advance

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.