Archaic term meaning beforehand; in advance or prior to a particular event.
From 'afore' (before) plus 'hand,' literally 'before-hand' meaning to be prepared in advance. This is an archaic formation that's been largely replaced by the simpler 'beforehand.'
The difference between 'beforehand' and 'aforehand' shows how English simplified its prefixes—we dropped the 'a-' prefix from many words over time, streamlining our language in ways that sometimes make old texts feel foreign.
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