Definition
"Before" carries two distinct legal meanings, both appearing regularly in statutes, procedural rules, court instruments, and time-computation rules:
1. Temporal: Prior to; earlier than a specified time, date, or event. When a statute or rule requires an act to be done a certain number of days "before" a deadline, the act must be completed by the day preceding the deadline day. The terminal day (the deadline itself) is excluded from the computation.
2. Presential/Jurisdictional: In the presence of; under the official authority or purview of. Used to indicate that a proceeding, oath, appearance, or act occurs within the authority of a designated officer or tribunal. A matter is "before the court" when it has been properly presented through regular proceeding and is receiving or awaiting the court's direct attention for decision. An affidavit sworn "before me" indicates the administering officer's presence and authority.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): At an earlier time; in advance in position or sequence; at the front end.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): In front of; preceding in space; ahead of; preceding in time; earlier than; previously to.
The common and legal meanings share a core sense, but the legal term carries a precise exclusionary rule for time computation that ordinary usage does not. Saying an event happens "before Friday" in ordinary speech may or may not imply anything about Friday itself; in law, it unambiguously excludes Friday. The presential sense — meaning under the authority and in the physical presence of a judicial officer — has no meaningful counterpart in everyday English.
Common Confusion
The temporal and presential senses are occasionally conflated in document drafting, but the more persistent confusion involves time computation. Researchers and practitioners sometimes misread "before" as inclusive of the deadline day. It is not. Anderson's formulation is precise: "before the twenty-eighth of a month means by the twenty-seventh, at least." This aligns with the general common-law rule, absent statutory modification. Distinguish "before" from "by," "not later than," and "on or before," each of which may shift the computation differently under applicable rules.
Why It Matters in Research
Time computation is where "before" generates the most research hazards. Historical sources are consistent that the terminal day is excluded, but modern procedural rules — federal and state — often overlay this common-law default with specific counting rules (e.g., Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 6). When researching a deadline governed by the word "before," always check whether an applicable rule, statute, or court order modifies the baseline computation. Do not assume historical dictionary definitions resolve modern procedural questions.
The presential sense matters in different contexts: jurats, oaths, and jurisdictional statements. Burrill flags that "before me" in a jurat was held to be essential language — its absence could invalidate an affidavit. Researchers working with historical affidavits, depositions, and sworn instruments should verify that the jurat conforms to the formal requirements of the jurisdiction and period. The phrase signals not merely presence but authority: the officer administering the oath must have had lawful power to do so.
For corpus research, "before the court" is a phrase of art indicating that a matter is properly pending — distinguishable from a matter merely filed, noticed, or submitted. A decision rendered on a matter not properly "before the court" may be treated as void or advisory. When tracing procedural histories in historical records, watch for this phrase as a marker of whether a court's action was jurisdictionally grounded.
Jurisdictional variations in time-computation rules compound over time. Pre-twentieth-century sources apply the common-law default almost uniformly. Modern sources require checking enacted procedural codes. The two-meaning structure of "before" — temporal and presential — persists across all periods and jurisdictions without significant variation in substance.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's (1st and 2nd editions) give parallel definitions across both senses, confirming stability between editions. Both editions include the time-computation rule explicitly: where an act must be done a certain number of days before a specified day, the computation excludes the terminal day, and the history of authority on this point is described as uniform in the absence of contrary statutory provision.
Burrill adds doctrinal texture to the presential sense. His derivation of "before" from the Latin coram situates the term within a formal concept of judicial presence tied to authority, not mere physical proximity. The court is held "before" its judges because the judges embody its power; an oath is sworn "before" an officer because that officer holds the authority to administer it. This connection to coram is useful for researchers working with early common-law materials and Latin-language records.
Anderson's Dictionary offers the most precise temporal formulation of any shelf source — "before the twenty-eighth means by the twenty-seventh, at least" — and reinforces the exclusion of the terminal day. Anderson also cross-references the distinctions between "before," "after," "ante," "coram," and "on," a set of relational terms that should be consulted together when parsing ambiguous temporal or presentional language in historical instruments.
No shelf source materially disagrees on either sense. The common-law rule on time computation appears settled across all sources consulted.
Jurisdictional Note
The exclusionary time-computation rule is a common-law default applied across U.S. jurisdictions historically, but modern procedural codes frequently modify it. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and its state equivalents govern deadline computation in litigation; always consult the applicable procedural rule before relying on the dictionary definition alone.