beforehand.
At an earlier or preceding time.
Meaning & usage
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.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English biforhand, biforhond, beforehonde, bifornhand, equivalent to before + hand. [13th century. After Old French avant main].
In comfortable circumstances as regards property; forehanded.
In a state of anticipation or preoccupation.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English biforhand, biforhond, beforehonde, bifornhand, equivalent to before + hand. [13th century. After Old French avant main].
Try it on your idea.
beforehand has 10 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.