aforetime
obsolete
aforetime is spelled A-F-O-R-E-T-I-M-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 66 million words in written English, the 255,765th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, aforetime means “In time past; in a former time; formerly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in aforetime?
| Letters | 9: A-F-O-R-E-T-I-M-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 66 million words; the 255,765th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is aforetime?
Aforetime appears about once in every 66 million words in written English, the 255,765th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce aforetime?
- US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-aforetime.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does aforetime mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
archaicIn time past; in a former time; formerly.
adjective
- 1
archaicFormer.
noun
- 1
archaicA former time.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Aforetime in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense formerly:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | früher |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does aforetime come from?
From Middle English a fore tyme, afore tyme, aforetyme, afortym, a-for-tyme, afortymez; equivalent to afore- + time.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).