Lemma 1āntĕ
preposition
in front/presence of, in view; before (space/time/degree); over against,Morphology
inv.ante · regular
Lewis & Short
antĕ, whence antidea, antideo, , , with, before (: prae, pro).
In space, or in regard to estimation, judgment, or rank (usu. only of objects at rest. while prae is used of those in motion; exceptions ).
In space — Of persons. — : causam ante eum diceret, before him as judge. — And in , after the Heb. and Hel. , before, in the sight of, in the judgment of — Hence, homines ante pedes (in later ), servants; the annotators upon. — With verbs of motion.
of preference in judgment, or regulations in respect to rank, before (this is properly the signification of prae, ; hence more rare than that, and never used by Cic.): quem ante me diligo, before myself, more than myself, Balbus — ante aliquem esse, to surpass, excel any one, ubi Corte and Kritz. — Hence very (but mostly and )
Ante alios, ante omnes, ante ceteros, , before others, before all, , to designate a comparative relation.
Ante omnia.
Before all things, first of all.
Comparatively, above all, especially, chiefty.
In entering upon the discussion of several particulars, or in adducing arguments, first of all, in the first place similar to ac primum quidem.
Of time.
The designation of time is often expressed paraphrastically.
By a person who lived at the time.
By other objects pertaining to a particular time: ante hoc factum, and. — Also by the designation of the office of a person. — And by the designation of office in app. to the person. — A or is added to such substantives for the sake of explanation: ( post urbem conditam)
Hence particular phrases.
Ante tempus.
Before the right time.
Before the appointed, proper, or lawful time: ( annus, II. D.).
Ante diem,
Before the time.
Before the time destined by fate.
Ante hunc diem, with a negative: (: neque eum ante usquam conspexi prius).
Ante diem (abbrev. a. d.) with an ordinal number gives the date, not of the foregoing, but of the present day; ante diem quintum (a. d. V.) Kalendas Apriles, the fifth day before the calends of April. Orig. the ante belonged to Kalendas, and they said either, ante die quinto Kalendas ( die quinto ante Kalendas), or ante diem quintum Kalendas; the latter phraseology became the prevailing one, and ante diem, being considered as one word, the prepp. in and ex could be prefixed; Duker ad; Drak. ad: me ante diem XIII. Kalendas Januarias principem revocandae libertatis fuisse, the thirteenth before the calends of January, the 20th of Dec.: ante diem XII. Kalendas Novembres, the 21st of Oct.: ante diem VI. Kalendas Novembres, the 27th of Oct.: ante diem VIII. Kalendas Decembres, the 24th of Nov.: a. d. IV. Mart. (ante diem quartum Idus Martias), the 12th of March: ante diem III. Non. Jan. M. Cicero natus est, on the 3d of Jan.: caedem te optimatium contulisse in ante diem V. Kal. Nov., to the 28th of Oct.: nuntii venerant ex ante diem Non. Jun. usque ad prid. Kal. Sept., from the 3d of June.
Sometimes to designate the whole time until the passing moment.
Ante annos, before the destined time.
Ante hoc, for antea, antehac, belongs to the later Latin.
, of space and time (the latter most ).
Of space, before, in front, forwards: post me erat Aegina, ante Megara, Sulp. — Of motion ( , I. A. 1.).
Of time, before, previously (always in reference to another past time, while ante as is used in reference to the present).
With verbs; so, and. — And often accomp. by jam. — Rarely accomp. by saepe.
Rarely with adjj.
Often with substt. in the or for a more accurate designation of time ( also abhinc with the and ; in these cases ante was considered by the ancient critics as a , which could also govern the ; P. The position of ante is sometimes before and sometimes after the , and sometimes between the numeral and the ): ; al.
With the advv. multo, paulo, aliquanto, tanto, quanto, and rarely permultum. — And in the order ante multo: bis. — And in the order ante aliquanto: ante aliquanto quam tu natus es; P.
Followed by quam (written also as one word, antequam; the form prius quam was more in archaic Latin), sooner than; before.
With ind. pres.
With ind.
Rarely with
With pres.
With
With
With pluperf.
With
With : on the use of these different constructions, Roby, §§ 1671, 1462, 1672 — Also in the poets sometimes pleon. ante — prius — quam.
For the designation of order, foll. by tum, deinde, , first, in the first place (only in later for the primum); dub.
Very rarely used as (in imitation of the Greek): (, Soph. O. T. 1423); (on this use of the , Kritz ad ).
In composition.
Of space, before, in front of, forwards: antepono, antefigo, antefero, antemitto.
Fig. of preference, before, above: antepono.
Of degree, before, above, more: antepotens, antepollens.
In designations of time only with adjj. and advv.: antelucanus, antemeridianus, antehac, antelucio.With verbs, ante is more correctly written separately: ante actus, ante factus, ante gestus, ante paro, , although editions differ in this respect. V. more upon this word in Hand, Turs. I. pp. 361-390, and pp. 394-402.