The story
- Old English · inherited fromþǣr tōforan
- Middle English · inherited fromther-to-fore
- English todaytheretofore
From Middle English ther-to-fore, þeretofore, þer to-fore, þer toforn, þær toforen, from Old English þǣr tōforan, equivalent to there + tofore.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.