fore-

pref.

1. Before; earlier: foredoom.

2. In front of; front: foredeck.

[Middle English for-, fore-, from Old English, from fore, in front; see per in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fore-

prefix

1. before in time or rank: foresight; forefather; foreman.

2. at or near the front; before in place: forehead; forecourt.

[Old English, from fore (adv)]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fore¹

(fɔr, foʊr)

adj.

1. situated in front of something else.

2. first in place, time, order, rank, etc.; forward; earlier.

a. of or pertaining to a foremast.

b. being a sail, yard, boom, etc., or any rigging belonging to a fore lower mast or to some upper mast of a foremast.

c. situated at or toward the bow of a vessel; forward.

adv.

4. at or toward the bow of a vessel.

5. forward.

6. Obs. before.

7. the forepart of anything; front.

8. the fore, the foremast.

prep., conj.

9. Also, 'fore.Informal. before.

Idioms:

1. fore and aft, in, at, or to both ends of a ship.

2. to the fore, into a conspicuous place or position; to or at the front.

fore²

(fɔr, foʊr)

interj.

(used as a cry of warning on a golf course to persons who are in danger of being struck by a ball in flight.)

[1875–80; probably aph. variant of before]

fore-

a prefix meaning “before” (in space, time, condition, etc.) ( forecast; foretaste; forewarn), “front” (forehead; forefront), “preceding” ( forefather), “superior” (foreman).

[comb. form representing Middle English, Old English fore in front, before, c. Old Saxon, Old High German fora, Gothic faura]