Word.ws English Dictionary

theretofore

theretofore adverb: until that time.

Adverb

theretofore

  1. (formal) Until that time.
    • Þæt wolde ðyncan wundorlic ælcum men þe on Englalande wæs, gif ænig man ær þam sæde þæt hit swa gewurþan sceolde, for ðam þe he wæs ær to þam swyðe up ahafen swylce he weolde þæs cynges ⁊ ealles Englalandes, ⁊ his sunan wæron eorlas, ⁊ þæs cynges dyrlingas, ⁊ his dohtor þæm cynge beweddod ⁊ beæwnod.1898, Sir James H[enry] Ramsay of Bamff, [10th] Bar[one]t, “Eadward the Confessor (continued): a.d. 1051–1053”, in The Foundations of England: or Twelve Centuries of British History (b.c. 55–a.d....
  2. (formal) Before that.

Origin of theretofore

From Middle English ther-to-fore, þeretofore, þer to-fore, þer toforn, þær toforen, from Old English þǣr tōforan, equivalent to there + tofore.

Questions about theretofore

What does theretofore mean?
Theretofore means until that time.
What part of speech is theretofore?
Theretofore is an adverb.

Words near theretofore in the dictionary

  1. Theresa Creek
  2. Theresa Park
  3. therethrough
  4. therethroughout
  5. thereto
  6. theretofore
  7. theretoward
  8. theretowards
  9. thereunder
  10. thereuntil
  11. thereunto

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: theretofore (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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