yoreadv.adj.
/jɔː/, U.S. /jɔr/ archaic.† 1. A long time ago; of old; frequently strengthened by full; also in collocation with ago, agone. it is (gone) yore (that..): long ago. Obsolete.† 2. In time past; formerly, before. Obsolete.† 3. For a long time (past, or rarely to come).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago
yorec900
for longOE
langer1303
long agoc1350
far1362
for yorea1375
of yore ago(ne)a1375
long time1376
of olda1393
anciently1502
langsyne?a1513
oldlya1513
in old season1582
old1609
antiquely1652
then-a-days1688
(the) year one1754
way back1870
in yore1876
way back when1921
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. ii. xiii Geare ic þæt ongeat þæt ðæt nowiht wæs þæt we beeodan.
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. iii. xxii Is se [sc. tun] be ðam wealle þe gearo Romane Breotone ealonde begyrdon twelf milum fram eastsæ.
c975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xi. 21 Olim, Iara.
OE Beowulf 2664 Swa ðu on geoguðfeore geara gecwæde.
a1000 Boeth. Metr. i. 1 Hit wæs geara iu ðætte Gotan eastan of Sciððia sceldas læddon.
c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 427/6 Iam, geara, oþþe geogara.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 70 Ȝeare is þet ich wiste þrof.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2321 Þe king him ȝef Delcan þe ȝare [c1300 Otho raþer] wes mi leoue-mon.
a1300 Floriz & Bl. 653 Nis noȝt ȝore þat i ne com And fond hire wiþ hordom.
c1386 G. Chaucer Sir Thopas Prol. 19 (Harl. 7334) Other tale certes can I noon But of a rym I lerned ȝore agoon.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 1008 All þe ȝeris of oure ȝouthe es ȝare syne passid.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 5672 Woltou me sle herfore As þou didest þe egipcian not ȝore?
c1400 Gamelyn 257 Sithen I wrastelet first it is gone ȝore.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 5696 And for that skyle gon ful yore,..I callede the my paramour.
?a1500 Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) xx. 27 He dyed on Rood, gone is not yore.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid xiii. Pref. 3 Ȝoir ago, in myne ondantit ȝowth.
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Eiv Yare So, aAincois Ainsy.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13968 Til a ȝer was full yore yarkit to end, And a halfe, er þat end happit to fare.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) xlxi. 1 Ryght true it is, and said full yore agoo.
1609 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. (ed. 2) Yore, before, long agoe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb]
erea822
fernOE
whileOE
erera1000
whilereOE
onceOE
somewhile1154
whilomc1175
herebeforec1200
somewhilesa1250
yorea1250
orc1275
rather?a1300
erewhilec1305
sometimea1325
sometimec1330
at or in sometime1340
in arrear1340
heretoforea1375
fernyear1377
once upon a timec1380
behinds1382
beforetimea1393
of olda1393
erenow1393
umquhilea1400
erst14..
fornec1400
yore whilec1400
of before1402
late1423
abefore1431
beforetimes1449
whilesc1480
sometime1490
aforrow?a1513
behind1526
quondamc1540
in foretime(s?c1550
erstwhile1569
erstwhiles1569
aleare1581
erewhiles1584
sometimes1597
formerly1599
anciently1624
olim1645
somewhile since1652
quondamly1663
forepassed1664
sometimea1684
backward1691
historically1753
time back1812
had-been1835
when1962
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 1180 Ich not ȝef þu were ȝaure prest.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1503 God..graunt ȝou ioye, for þe worchipe þat ȝe han wruȝt to me ȝore.
c1400 Rom. Rose 7597 Thus seide I now, and haue seid yore.
c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 2651 Abraham hast þou yore by cald That name no lengger shalt þou hald.
c1480 (a1400) Seven Sleepers 258 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 433 [He] lukyt vpe, & saw þare þe sammyne takine he saw yare.
?a1500 Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) xxiv. 513 Doe as thou hast yore behight.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Oiiiv/2 Yore, before, ante, prius.
1574 J. Higgins 1st Pt. Mirour for Magistrates Kimarus xii A iust rewarde, for so vniust a life, No worse a death, then I deserued yore.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [adverb] > for a long time
longeOE
longOE
longlyOE
longsomelyOE
yorec1275
lastingly1372
longsa1450
for longa1530
in length1566
with the longest1636
stayingly1648
eternally1664
sometime1801
chronically1854
forever1861
somewhile1864
for the duration1916
long-term1947
secularly1971
c1275 XI Pains of Hell 23 in Old Eng. Misc. 147 In helle ich habbe yare ibeo.
a1300 Vox & Wolf 169 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 63 The wolf haueth hounger swithe gret, For he nedde ȝare i-ete.
c1386 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 12 Thus in delit he lyueth and hath doon yoore.
c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Bycorne & Chychevache (Harl.) in Select. Minor Poems (1840) 135 And thus ye stonde and have don yore.
1522 Worlde & Chylde (de Worde) (1909) sig. C.i In englonde haue I dwelled yore.
4. of yore:
a. in adv. use: Of old, in time long past, anciently, formerly. Also †of yore ago(ne), †long yore: long ago.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago
yorec900
for longOE
langer1303
long agoc1350
far1362
for yorea1375
of yore ago(ne)a1375
long time1376
of olda1393
anciently1502
langsyne?a1513
oldlya1513
in old season1582
old1609
antiquely1652
then-a-days1688
(the) year one1754
way back1870
in yore1876
way back when1921
a1375 Joseph Arim. l. 317 Werdes of Ebreu weren I-writen of ȝore.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Prol. 13 For that he say it nat of ȝore a-go.
1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) ix. xiv. 202 b/2 She was the same that of yore agon, Unworthelye sate in Peters place.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. July 116 The sayncts Which han be dead of yore [Gloss long agoe].
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxviii. sig. E3 To shew faulse Art what beauty was of yore . View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 38 Thee bright-hair'd Vesta long of yore, To solitary Saturn bore.
1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 591 A form, not now gymnastic as of yore.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. i. 1 Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley.
1862 C. Kingsley Lett. (1877) I. 477 I have defended the right of combination among the work~men, in hope that they would become wiser than of yore.
1867 ‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine's Gage 19 Proud Cecil Castlemaine was yet prouder than of yore.
b. in adj. use: Belonging to time long past, ancient, former.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > long-past or old
oldOE
ancient1366
yorec1400
antique1532
of yore1598
long-ago1603
far gone1829
way back1885
1598 Mucedorus sig. E2v In time of yore.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion v. 82 His Bishoprick of yore.
1709 A. Pope Chaucer's January & May in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 209 Well sung sweet Ovid, in the Days of yore.
1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1865) i. v. 134 This is altogether different from the village politics of yore.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion ii. 51 In days of yore how fortunately fared The Minstrel! View more context for this quotation
1819 W. Irving Rip Van Winkle in Sketch Bk. i. 82 The great tree..used to shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore.
1883 R. Whitelaw tr. Sophocles Philoctetes 1151 For now I hold not in my hands The mighty shafts of yore.
c. With other prepositions: e.g. †for yore (obsolete); in yore (pseudo-archaic). rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > long ago
yorec900
for longOE
langer1303
long agoc1350
far1362
for yorea1375
of yore ago(ne)a1375
long time1376
of olda1393
anciently1502
langsyne?a1513
oldlya1513
in old season1582
old1609
antiquely1652
then-a-days1688
(the) year one1754
way back1870
in yore1876
way back when1921
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 4174 Hire mi sone is founde þat sche for ȝore saide was sonk in þe see.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 586 Ȝet oþer þer werne..Þat swange & swat for long ȝore.
1876 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids v. 865 In yore agone.
5. as adj. Of old time; ancient, former. archaic and dialect. †yore while (adverbial phrase), some time ago. Yore-flood (nonce-use), the biblical Flood. yore-day is an echo of Old English on geárdagum, Old Norse i árdaga in days of yore.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb]
erea822
fernOE
whileOE
erera1000
whilereOE
onceOE
somewhile1154
whilomc1175
herebeforec1200
somewhilesa1250
yorea1250
orc1275
rather?a1300
erewhilec1305
sometimea1325
sometimec1330
at or in sometime1340
in arrear1340
heretoforea1375
fernyear1377
once upon a timec1380
behinds1382
beforetimea1393
of olda1393
erenow1393
umquhilea1400
erst14..
fornec1400
yore whilec1400
of before1402
late1423
abefore1431
beforetimes1449
whilesc1480
sometime1490
aforrow?a1513
behind1526
quondamc1540
in foretime(s?c1550
erstwhile1569
erstwhiles1569
aleare1581
erewhiles1584
sometimes1597
formerly1599
anciently1624
olim1645
somewhile since1652
quondamly1663
forepassed1664
sometimea1684
backward1691
historically1753
time back1812
had-been1835
when1962
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adjective] > long-past or old
oldOE
ancient1366
yorec1400
antique1532
of yore1598
long-ago1603
far gone1829
way back1885
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > biblical events > [noun] > the flood
Noah's floodOE
the floodOE
Yore-flood1876
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 842 Þete vus out þose ȝong men þat ȝore~whyle here entred.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 322 Oure ȝore fader hit con mysseȝeme.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9959 So hatnet hir hert in his hegh loue, And all ȝomeryng for-yeton of hir yore dedes.
1866 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. i. p. v Thousands of books and yore-day things.
1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxxii, in Poems (1967) 62 I admire thee, master of the tides, Of the Yore-flood.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adv.adj.c900