Antebellum

//ˌæn.tiˈbɛl.əm// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of the time period prior to a war. not-comparable

    "A renewed sense of national pride arose in Hitler's antebellum Germany."

  2. 2
    Of the time period prior to a war.; Of the period prior to the American Civil War, especially in reference to the culture of the southern states. US, not-comparable

    "Slavery was an accepted part of antebellum plantation life."

Adjective
  1. 1
    belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
nonmodernpre-warprebellum

Example

More examples

"A renewed sense of national pride arose in Hitler's antebellum Germany."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ante bellum (literally “before the war”).

Related phrases

civil war

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