ere
At an earlier time.
Adverb
- At an earlier time.
- Thys is he of whome I ſpake / he that cõmeth after me / was befoꝛe me be cauſe he was yer thẽ I. - 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John...
Origin
From Middle English er, from Old English ǣr (adverb, conjunction, and preposition), from Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz, comparative of Proto-Germanic *airi (“early”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri (“day, morning”) (compare Avestan 𐬀𐬫𐬀𐬭 (ayar, “day”), Gk. ἠέριος (ēérios, “at daybreak”), see also era, Albanian herët (“early in the morning, at daybreak”) ). The adverb erstwhile retains the Old English superlative ǣrest (“earliest”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eer (“before”), Dutch eer (“before, sooner than”), German ehe (“before”).
Forms
Conjunction
- before.
- Syꝛ, come downe ere my child die. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 4:49, column 1:
Forms
Derived
erelong ere that erewhile ereyesterday erst erstwhile whilere
Contraction
- A contraction of is, there, and the indefinite article. Mainly used in questions.
- 'Ere bit o' bacon in it, Kathleen?
Origin
Formed from is + there + a/an.
Forms
Noun
- Obsolete form of ear.
- As plesaunt to the ere as the blacke sanctus Of a sad sorte vpon a mery pyn. - 1533, R. Saltwood, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
Forms
Preposition
- Before; sooner than.
- My ſelfe was ſtirring ere the breake of day, […] - 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature I3, verso:
- The hill-tops rejoicing will ere long be at their ruddiest, and blush Good-night. - 1837, Thomas Carlyle, “Old-Dragoon Drouet”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and...