English Meaning & Definitions
Belonging to or happening in a past time; out of date or no longer in existence.
- “The museum displayed tools from a bygone era of farming.”
- “She felt a sense of nostalgia for the bygone days of her childhood.”
A thing or event from the past, often used in the plural to refer to past grievances that should be forgotten.
- “They decided to let bygones be bygones and move forward with their friendship.”
- “We cannot change the bygones of history, but we can learn from them.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “bygone”.
Derived from the Middle English 'bygon', a combination of the preposition 'by' (meaning 'past' or 'near') and the past participle of 'go' ('gon'). It originally functioned as a phrase meaning 'that which has gone by', evolving into an adjective to describe things belonging to an earlier time.
Think of 'by' (past) + 'gone' (left) = something that has gone by into the past.
Frequently Asked Questions About “bygone”
1. What is the meaning of “bygone” in English?
In English, bygone (adjective) is defined as: “Belonging to or happening in a past time; out of date or no longer in existence.”.
2. How do you use “bygone” in a sentence?
“The museum displayed tools from a bygone era of farming.”
3. What are English synonyms of “bygone”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “bygone”?
Derived from the Middle English 'bygon', a combination of the preposition 'by' (meaning 'past' or 'near') and the past participle of 'go' ('gon'). It originally functioned as a phrase meaning 'that which has gone by', evolving into an adjective to describe things belonging to an earlier time.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →A measurement of time indicating an instantaneous occurrence or a state where no time has elapsed.
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.