foreday en · NOUN
Etymology
From Middle English *foreday (attested only in plural foredais), equivalent to fore- + day.
Meanings
-
(archaic, in-plural, poetic) Past or former days
This same token should be of Luces the emperor, and of the Senators [of Rome], who with him came from Rome [thither]; ' and in the same wise, they there gan fall;' what Merlin in foredays said, all they it found there, as they did ere, and subsequently well everywhere; ere Arthur were born, Merlin it all [all it is] predicted.
1847 [c. 1200], Frederic Madden, Layamon's Brut, Or Chronicle of Britain, translation of original by Layamon:We bend our knees to the ground Seeking refuge from the One on High To redeem us from the Prophesies of the fore-days Consigning these daysafter The last days, as the evil days.
2016, David Udo, “The Last Days”, in The Ripples:When the English horsemen shivered On the foredays' glorious strife, By his spearmen, and De Clifford Yielded both the wreath and life.
1897, Dugald Ferguson, Poems of the Heart, page 79:
- (dialectal) The earlier part of the day; the morning or early afternoon.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| foredays | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| fore-day | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
forenoon (morning) · undermeal (early afternoon) · foretime (past days) · undertide · morn · yestertide