rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryyoreLong ago
noun

yore

YOR/jɔːr/

Time long past.

The old photograph recalls the horse-drawn streets of yore.

An old family photograph in a plain wood frame shows a nineteenth-century horse-drawn carriage on a cobbled lane beside a woman in period long dress and bonnet.
Etymology
yoreOld Englishyear

Yore comes from a form of “year” literally meaning “of years,” used to mean “formerly.” That expression became a noun for the distant past.

In context

Libranima194:14
Gliding among them, old Leviathan swam as of yore; was there swimming in that planisphere, centuries before Solomon was cradled.
Moby Dick - Illustrated Audiobook for Focused Reading (Part 3/3)

More examples

  • She told stories of the village in days of yore.
  • The festival recreated games from years of yore.
  • Tales of knights of yore filled the old book.

Forms

yore

Similar words

past
Past is the ordinary general term; yore is literary and usually means the distant past.
antiquity
Antiquity often names ancient times specifically; yore is less historically precise.