different between before vs til

English

Alternative forms

• befo (pronunciation spelling)
• befo' (pronunciation spelling)

Etymology

From Middle English before, bifore (adverb and preposition), from Old English beforan, from be- + foran (“before”), from fore, from Proto-Germanic *furai, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“front”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian befoar (“before”), German Low German bevör (“before”), German bevor (“before”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: b?fô?, IPA^(key): /b??f??/
• (General American) enPR: b?fôr?, b?fôr?, IPA^(key): /b??f??/, /bi?f??/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: b?f?r?, IPA^(key): /b??fo(?)?/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /b??fo?/
• Hyphenation: be?fore
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Preposition

before

1. Earlier than (in time).
2. In front of in space.

   • His angel, who shall go / Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire.

   • He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. […] But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again […] she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.
3. In the presence of.

   He performed before the troops in North Africa.

   He spoke before a joint session of Congress.

4. Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
   • 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani

     If a suit be begun before an archdeacon […]

5. In store for, in the future of (someone).
6. In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.

7. At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.

Synonyms

• (earlier than in time): by, no later than, previous to, prior to, ere (obsolete)
• (in front of in space): ahead of, in front of
• (in front of according to an ordering system): ahead of

Antonyms

• (earlier than in time): after, later than
• (in front of in space): behind
• (in front of according to an ordering system): after

Translations

Adverb

before (not comparable)

1. At an earlier time.

2. In advance.
3. At the front end.
   • 1896, Hilaire Belloc, The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, “The Elephant”:

     When people call this beast to mind,
     They marvel more and more
     At such a little tail behind,
     So LARGE a trunk before.

Synonyms

• (at an earlier time): previously
• (in advance): ahead
• (at the front end): in front

Antonyms

• (at an earlier time): after
• (at the front end): behind

Derived terms

• beforehand
• beforetime

Translations

Conjunction

before

1. In advance of the time when.

   • before this elaborate treatise can become of universal use and ornament to my native country, two points […] are absolutely necessary.
2. (informal) Rather or sooner than.

Synonyms

• (rather than): lest

Translations

References

• before at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

Anagrams

• borfee

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English til, from Old English til (“to, until”), possibly from Old Norse til, both from Proto-Germanic *til? (“goal”), or Proto-Germanic *til (“to, towards”). Compare to Old Frisian til.

Alternative forms

• 'til

Pronunciation

• enPR: t?l, t?l, IPA^(key): /t?l/, /t?l/
• Rhymes: -?l, -?l

Conjunction

til

1. (colloquial) until, till

Preposition

til

1. (colloquial) until, till
2. (archaic) ~ to: as far as; down to; up to, until

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• teel

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?l/, /ti?l/

Noun

til (plural tils)

1. The sesame plant
2. A species of tree in the Lauraceae family, native to Madeira and the Canary Islands; Ocotea foetens.

See also

• til seed

Anagrams

• &lit, Lit, TLI, lit, lit.

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *d?l.

Noun

til

1. tongue
2. language

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[2], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse til, from Proto-Germanic *til? (“goal”), cognate with Swedish till (“to”), English till, German Ziel n (“goal”). The preposition has arisen from an adverbial use of the noun, lit. "(with) the goal of something". In Old Norse, the preposition governs the genitive, a usage which is preserved in certain fixed phrased in Danish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te(l)/, [t?el], [t?e]

Preposition

til

1. to, towards (direction or goal of a physical movement)
2. towards (the way a thing is turned)
3. to, until (the upper limit)

4. for (the purpose or the beneficiary)

5. into, interested in (especially sexually)

6. at (at a certain point in time, with certain nouns)

7. by, by (not later than)

8. (together) with (e.g. accompanying food)

9. on, by (the mean of transportation)

Archaic case forms

• The preposition governed the genitive in Old Norse and Old Danish. This usage is preserved in several fixed phrases (always with the noun in the indefinite singular):

• In many phrases, the noun ends in -e, which is either 1) an old genitive plural (Old Norse -a), 2) an old genitive singular in a different declension (Old Norse -ar), or 3) an old dative singular (Old Norse -i), analogically after other case relict phrases:

Adverb

til

1. more, additional, another

2. to, having as destination

3. such that something is caused to be in a fitting state
   • 2015, Christine Proksch, Turen Går Til Wien, Politikens Forlag ?ISBN

   • 2008, Selvstyrende team - ledelse og organisation, Samfundslitteratur ?ISBN, page 35

4. such that some pathway or cavity is blocked

5. with force

Conjunction

til

1. till, until

References

• “til” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

til f (plural tillen, diminutive tilletje n)

1. dovecote

   Synonyms: duiventil, columbarium, duivenhuis

2. (dialectal) bridge, typically a small wooden bridge made of planks
3. (dated) cage trap for catching birds

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

til

1. first-person singular present indicative of tillen
2. imperative of tillen

Dutch Low Saxon

Noun

til

1. bridge

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse til, from Proto-Germanic *tila- (“goal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“near, at”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?i?l/
• Rhymes: -i?l

Preposition

til

1. (with accusative or with genitive) to, towards

Derived terms

• til-

Conjunction

til

1. until

Gothic

Romanization

til

1. Romanization of ????????????

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse til, from Proto-Germanic *tila- (“goal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“near, at”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??(?)l/
• Rhymes: -??l

Preposition

til

1. (governs the genitive) to, towards

Derived terms

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from English till.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /til/

Preposition

til

1. until, till (in time)
2. to, up to, as far as (in space)

Derived terms

Interjection

til

1. Short for til rivido (“goodbye”).

Marshallese

Etymology

From Proto-Micronesian *sulu, from Proto-Oceanic *suluq, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *suluq. Cognate with Cebuano sulo, Tagalog sulo, Malay suluh, Palauan tuich.

Pronunciation

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): [t?il?]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /t?il?/
• Bender phonemes: {til}

Noun

til

1. a torch

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Middle English

Alternative forms

• tylle

Etymology

From Old English til (“to, until”), possibly from Old Norse til, both from Proto-Germanic *tila- (“goal”), or Proto-Germanic *til (“to, towards”). Cognate with Old Norse til, Old Frisian til.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /til/

Conjunction

til

1. until, till

Descendants

• English: til, till
• Scots: til
• Yola: del

References

• “til, conj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Preposition

til

1. until, till
2. (with "to") as far as; down to; up to, until

Descendants

• English: til, till
• Scots: til
• Yola: del

References

• “til, prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Adverb

til

1. to

References

• “til, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Northern Kurdish

Noun

til f

1. finger (extremity of the hand)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse til, from Proto-Germanic *tila- (“goal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“near, at”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Preposition

til

1. to

Derived terms

References

• “til” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse til, from Proto-Germanic *tila- (“goal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“near, at”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?l?/ (example of pronunciation)

Preposition

til

1. to (indicating destination)

2. for

3. of (indicating possession)

4. until

Adverb

til

1. another, one more

Derived terms

• endåtil
• få til
• tilflukt
• tilfrosen

References

• “til” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /til/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *tila-, whence also Old Frisian til, Old High German zil (German Ziel), Old Norse tilr, Gothic ???????????? (til).

Adjective

til

1. good (morally good; competent; useful, etc.)

Declension

Noun

til n (nominative plural tilas)

1. use, service, convenience

2. goodness, kindness

Etymology 2

Possibly from Old Norse til though the OED has it as "Germanic" and related to Old Norse til and to Old Frisian til

Preposition

til

1. to, until, unto
   • c. 800, Ruthwell Cross, found in Ruthwell, Scotland.

Descendants

• Middle English: til, tylle
  • English: til, till
  • Scots: til
  • Yola: del

References

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *til? (“goal”). Cognate with Old English til, Old Frisian til, German Ziel n (“goal”). The preposition has arisen from an adverbial use of the noun, lit. "(with) the goal of something"; this is also the reason it takes the genitive.

Preposition

til

1. (with genitive) to, towards

Descendants

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “till”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

• til in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “til” in: Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon — An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874)

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Occitan tille, from Latin titulus. Doublet of título.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: tio (Brazil, ignoring syllable breaks)
• Hyphenation: til
• Rhymes: -il, -iw

Noun

til m (plural tis or tiles)

1. tilde, a diacritic (˜). Used in Portuguese to indicate a nasal vowel.
2. trifle (something of little importance or worth)

Uzbek

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *d?l.

Noun

til (plural tillar)

1. tongue
2. language

Declension