Before; earlier than (archaic or poetic word for 'before').
From Old English 'ær,' related to 'early.' It's a very ancient word, nearly 1,000 years old, from Proto-Germanic roots meaning 'early in time.'
'Ere' is one of English's oldest words, and Shakespeare used it constantly, but it sounds so archaic now that using it seriously makes people laugh—yet we kept it in old poems and fantasy novels as a 'magic' word!
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