English

forelife

Forelife comes from Middle English forelyf.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: 1910, Allen Upward: “Because all they hoped to create was the lowest…”

Formed from fore- + life

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before, formerly’

Proto-Germanic *fura- ‘before, in front of, for’

Proto-West Germanic *forē- ‘before, in front of, fore-, pre-’

English fore-

Proto-Germanic *lībą ‘life’

Proto-West Germanic *līb ‘body’

Old English līf

Middle English lyf

English life

Every English word from Middle English forelyf

noun A former or previous life

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.