auparavant

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French auparavant, a univerbation of au +‎ par +‎ avant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o.pa.ʁa.vɑ̃/

• Audio

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Adverb

auparavant

1. beforehand, previously [from 15th century]

   Synonyms: précédemment, antérieurement, au préalable

   un an auparavant

   a year earlier

   Je l’en avais averti longtemps auparavant.

   I had warned him about it long before.

   Je n’avais jamais vu une aussi belle jeune fille auparavant.

   I had never seen such a beautiful girl before.

Further reading

• “auparavant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.