yore

See also: yöre

English

Etymology

From Middle English yore, yoare, yare, ȝore, ȝare, ȝeare, from Old English ġeāra (literally “of years”), of unclear origin but probably from Proto-Germanic *jērǫ̂, the genitive plural of Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”). More at year.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yô, IPA^(key): /jɔː/
• (General American) enPR: yôr, IPA^(key): /jɔɹ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: yōr, IPA^(key): /jo(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /joə/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• Homophones: your, you're (pour–poor merger); yaw (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)

Noun

yore (uncountable)

1. (poetic) A time long past.

   This word comes from the days of yore.

   • 1860, Henry David Thoreau, The Last Days of John Brown‎:

     It appeared strange to me that the “little dipper” should be still diving quietly in the river, as of yore; and it suggested that this bird might continue to dive here when Concord should be no more.

   • 1886-88, Richard Francis Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night:

     In days of yore and times long gone before there was a Sultan of India who begat three sons; the eldest hight Prince Husayn, the second Prince Ali, and the youngest Prince Ahmad; moreover he had a niece, named Princess Nur al-Nihár, the daughter of his cadet brother who, dying early, left his only child under her uncle's charge.

   • 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎:

     Several logistics executives told me that if half-full freight vans from multiple firms kept congesting the streets, the best solution might be for every retailer to use a single firm instead. One delivery service to rule them all – just like the postal service of yore.

Usage notes

A fossil; virtually unused outside the phrase of yore, especially the idiom days of yore.

Synonyms

• foretime, yestertide; see also Thesaurus:the past

Translations

time long past

Chinese: Mandarin: 昔日 (zh) (xīrì) Dutch: ver verleden, weleer (nl), eertijds (nl) Estonian: ammune French: jadis (fr), antan (fr) m German: lange zurückliegend (of yore), eine lang zurückliegende Zeit f (the days of yore), aus uralten Zeiten f pl (from the days of yore) Hebrew: קֶדֶם (he) m (qédem) Icelandic: fyrir (is), langa (is), löngu (is) Japanese: 在りし日 (arishi hi), 昔 (ja) (mukashi) Ladino: antanyada Norwegian: gamle dager m pl Portuguese: antanho (pt), antano (pt) Russian: да́вние времена́ pl (dávnije vremená), было́е (ru) n (bylóje) Spanish: antaño (es)

Adverb

yore (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) In time long past; long ago.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 26:

     Which though he hath polluted oft and yore, / Yet I to them for iudgement iust do fly

Synonyms

• long since, of old; see also Thesaurus:long ago

Anagrams

• Roye, oyer, yero

Middle English

Adverb

yore

1. yore (in a time long ago)
2. (with past participle) for a long time
   • c. 1300, Anonymous, "Alison" (as printed in Oxford Dictionary of English Verse, 1900):

     Ichabbe y-yerned yore.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

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