before someone's time

prepositional phrase

From before one was born or old enough to be aware of the world.

“dead before his time”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticFrom before one was born or old enough to be aware of the world.

    I don't know — that was before my time

    1 more example

    At thirteen, I liked a lot of music that was before my time: Louis Armstrong and Dixieland jazz, Sousa marches, and barbershop quartet singing.

    2007, Bobby Braddock, Down in Orburndale: A Songwriter's Youth in Old Florida, Louisiana State University Press, published 2007, →ISBN, page 55
  2. idiomaticAt a stage in one's life, development, etc. that seems premature.

    dead before his time

    3 more examples

    Oh yes, and tell her to take care of herself too, and not get herself all banged up again, or she will look old before her time.

    1951, Johnny Cash, letter to Vivian Cash dated 3 November 1951, reprinted in Vivian Cash (with Ann Sharpsteen), I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny, Scribner (2007), page 38

    Jimi Hendrix is buried at Evergreen Memorial Park in Renton. The electric guitar player extraordinaire died before his time at the young age of 27.

    2007, Robin Shannon, Cemeteries of Seattle, Arcadia Publishing, published 2007, →ISBN, page 119

    "Unless you become the third apprentice to quit before his time?"

    2012, Laura Frantz, Love's Reckoning, Revell, published 2012, →ISBN

Translations

Finnish ajalta ennen jotakuta, ennen aikojaan
  • ajalta ennen jotakutafrom before one was born or old enough to be aware of the world
  • ennen aikojaanat a stage that seems premature
  • ennenaikaisestiat a stage that seems premature
German vor jemandes Zeit
  • vor jemandes Zeitfrom before one was born or old enough to be aware of the world
Polish przed czasem, przed czasem
  • przed czasemfrom before one was born or old enough to be aware of the world
  • przed czasemat a stage that seems premature
  • za wcześnieat a stage that seems premature
Swedish före sin tid
  • före sin tidat a stage that seems premature
Cite this entry
APA

before someone's time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/before%20someone's%20time

MLA

“before someone's time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/before%20someone's%20time. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “before someone's time,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/before%20someone's%20time.

Source: before someone's time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.