Word.ws English Dictionary

beforehand

Syllables: be·fore·handUK/bɪˈfɔːhænd//bɪˈfɔɹhænd/

beforehand adverb: at an earlier or preceding time.

Adverb

beforehand (not comparable)

  1. At an earlier or preceding time.
    • Will it be possible to have access to the room beforehand so that we can set up chairs?
    • I love playing tennis but I always get so nervous beforehand.

Adjective

beforehand (comparative more beforehand, superlative most beforehand)

  1. (obsolete) In comfortable circumstances as regards property; forehanded.
    • rich and much beforehand1626, Francis Bacon, New Atlantis
  2. (archaic, often) In a state of anticipation or preoccupation.
    • Agricola […] resolves to be beforehand with the danger.1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC
    • The last cited author has been beforehand with me.1716 April 16 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 31. Thursday, April 6. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob...

beforehand meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

beforehand in Tamil

முன்கூட்டியே

beforehand in Urdu

قبل از وقت

beforehand in Bengali

আগেভাগে, পূর্বেই, অগ্রিম

beforehand in Malayalam

മുൻകൂട്ടി, പ്രതീക്ഷിച്ചുകൊണ്ട്
More languagesFewer languages
beforehand in Kannada
ಮುಂಚಿತವಾಗಿ
beforehand in Punjabi
ਅੱਗੋਂ aggõ, اگوں aggoṉ

Examples of beforehand in a sentence

  • Weeks beforehand, I had bought the tickets for the concert.
  • […] the medical attendant ought to be rather beforehand with the symptoms of excitement, and to diminish the large quantity of wine before they appear.1839, London Medical Gazette: Or, Journal of Practical Medicine:

All 23 example sentences with beforehand

Synonyms of beforehand

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of beforehand

Forms of beforehand

Adverb
alternative form (archaic)before-hand
Adjective
comparativemore beforehand
superlativemost beforehand

Origin of beforehand

From Middle English biforhand, biforhond, beforehonde, bifornhand, equivalent to before + hand. [13th century. After Old French avant main].

Words formed from beforehand

Questions about beforehand

What does beforehand mean?
Beforehand means at an earlier or preceding time.
What is beforehand in Tamil?
Beforehand in Tamil is முன்கூட்டியே. See Beforehand meaning in Tamil.
How do you use beforehand in a sentence?
Weeks beforehand, I had bought the tickets for the concert.
What part of speech is beforehand?
Beforehand can be an adverb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce beforehand?
Beforehand is pronounced /bɪˈfɔːhænd/ (UK).

Words near beforehand in the dictionary

  1. before-and-after
  2. before-and-afters
  3. before-hand
  4. before-mentioned
  5. beforecited
  6. beforehand
  7. beforehand in the world
  8. beforehand with the world
  9. beforelife
  10. beforelives
  11. beforely

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: beforehand (page history and authors); beforehand (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); beforehand (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); beforehand (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); beforehand (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); beforehand (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اگوں (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-beforehand.ogg.

Cite this entry: “beforehand.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beforehand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.