beyond, adv. and prep.
(bɪˈjɒnd)
Forms: 1 be-, biᵹeondan, beiundan, 2 beᵹeonden, 3 biȝeonde(n, biȝonndenn, 3–5 bi-, byyond(e, -ȝonde, biȝende, 4 beȝonde(n, be-, biȝunde, 4–6 beyend(e, 5–6 beyonde, 6 by yonde, byȝend, 5– beyond.
[OE. beᵹeondan, not found in other Teut. langs.: f. bi-, be- indicating position + ᵹeondan from the farther side:—OTeut. *jandana, f. *jand (in OE. ᵹeond across, through, beyond. Cf. Goth. jaind yonder) + -ana advb. suffix: cf. behind. The advb. *jand, (jaind,) ᵹeond, belongs to the demonstr. pron. *jano-z, Goth. jains, OHG. jenêr (stem jani-), OE. ᵹeon, yon. Other derivatives in Gothic were jainar there; jaindre thither, jainþro thence. The literal meaning of beᵹeondan was thus ‘on yon side, on the farther side.’ Used either without (adv.) or with (prep.) an object.]
A. adv.
1. On the farther side, farther away, at a greater distance.
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. 232 Ulterius, feor beᵹeondan. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 105 Ichaue a kniht hette Concience com late from bi-ȝonde [B. biȝunde]. c 1400 Mandeville xxxi. 314 With outen ony more rehercyng of..marvaylles that ben beȝonde. c 1440 York Myst. xvii. 59 And be-yonde is Bedleem. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 38 Lo, where beyond he lyeth languishing. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 242 So high a hope, that euen Ambition cannot pierce a winke beyond. 1842 Tennyson Pal. Art 82 Beyond, a line of heights. |
2. In addition, besides, over and above. rare.
| 1886 Law Times LXXX. 193/1 This amount and {pstlg}5, his own damages beyond, he sought to recover in this action. |
B. prep.
1. Of position in space: On the farther side of. a. of a boundary, barrier, or intervening space. beyond seas: out of the country; abroad.
| a 1000 ælfric Deut. i. 5 Beiundane Iordane on Moab lande. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John i. 28 On beþan{iacu}a beᵹeondan iordanen. c 1205 Lay. 28274 Al biȝeonde þerere Humbre. a 1300 Cursor M. 11396 Bi-yond þam ar wonnand nan. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 1 Myn husbond, quod she, is biȝende þe see. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 180 Beyond the Riuer wee'le encampe our selues. 1644 Milton Educ. ad init., Both here and beyond the seas. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 258 The new world beyond the hills. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 51 Beyond the western wave. 1848 Macaulay Eng. I. 173 From 1646 to 1660 he had lived beyond sea. |
b. of an object regarded simply as a point in space: Past, further on than, at a more distant point or position than.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Sam. xx. 22 The arowis ben beȝonde [1388 biȝende] thee. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 247 She that is Queene of Tunis, she that dwels Ten leagues beyond mans life. 1821 Byron Cain ii. i. 14 Thou shalt behold The worlds beyond thy little world. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. §4. iii. 296 Out of which rise the soft rounded slopes of mightier mountains, surge beyond surge. 1873 Kingsley Prose Idylls 96 While high overhead hung, motionless, hawk beyond hawk, buzzard beyond buzzard, kite beyond kite, as far as eye could see. |
2. a. Of motion: To the farther side of, farther than, past, so as to leave behind. (Cf. 10.)
| a 1075 O.E. Chron. an. 1048 Godwine eorl and Sweᵹen..ᵹewendon heom beᵹeondan sæ. c 1205 Lay. 29149 Sum fleh bi-ȝeonden sæ. c 1305 St. Dunstan 103 in E.E.P. (1862) 37 Biȝunde see he drouȝ. 1529 Rastell Pastyme, Hist. Brit. (1811) 97 Drove them..by yonde Doram. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 35 Barnes..brake aways from them and went beyend see unto Luter. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 49 Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet. 1821 Keats Lamia 429 His spirit pass'd beyond its golden bourn Into the noisy world. 1862 Spalding Hist. Eng. Lit. (1876) 372 Never able to pass a step beyond the self-drawn circle. |
b. fig.
| 1690 Locke Hum. Und. (1777) I. 275 It can proceed and pass beyond all those lengths. 1797 Washington Writ. (1858) 213 That France has stepped beyond the line of rectitude cannot be denied. a 1849 J. C. Mangan Poems (1859) 450 All-baffled reason cannot wander Beyond her chain. 1860 Hawthorne Marb. Faun. iv. (1883) 47 The story of this adventure..made its way beyond the usual gossip of the Forestieri. |
c. = beside 5 a. rare.
| 1834 M. Scott in Blackw. Mag. XXXVI. 814 The excess of her joy..had driven her beyond herself. |
† d. to go beyond: to ‘get round,’ circumvent.
| 1602 Life T. Cromwell iv. v. 120 We must be wary, else he'll go beyond us. 1611 Bible 1 Thess. iv. 6 That no man goe beyond and defraud his brother in any matter. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 409 The king has gone beyond me. |
3. Towards the farther side of, farther than, past. (With look and equivalent verbs.) to look beyond (quot. 1597): to misconstrue, misunderstand.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 67 My gracious Lord, you looke beyond him quite. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 302 ¶7 Looking beyond this gloomy Vale of Affliction and Sorrow into the Joys of Heaven and Immortality. 1768 Beattie Ministr. i. (R.) Lofty souls who look beyond the tomb. |
4. Of time: Past, later than.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 57 My griefe..Stretches it selfe beyond the howre of death. c 1600 ― Sonn. cxxii, Which shall..remain Beyond all date, even to eternity. 1747 Gray Ode Eton Coll. 54 No care beyond to day. 1762 Hume Hist. Eng. (1826) V. xli. 228 Those who should remain beyond that time..should be guilty of treason. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 15, I have been kept from home, beyond my promised hour. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xx. 236 We arrived safe at home about an hour and a half beyond our time. |
5. fig. a. Outside the limit or sphere of, past; out of the grasp or reach of.
| 1535 Coverdale Num. xxii. 18 Yet could I not go beyonde y⊇ worde of the Lorde my God. 1595 Shakes. John iv. iii. 117 Beyond the infinite and boundlesse reach of mercie. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 200 Imagination of some great exploit Driues him beyond the bounds of Patience. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, i. iii. 59 The Modell of a house Beyond his power to builde. 1605 Heywood If know not me Wks. 1874 I. 210 Shoomaker, you goe a little beyond your last. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxiii. 201 A time past, beyond the memory of man. 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxx. (Globe) 202 It was beyond one man's strength to remove it. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 53 A detail of the working of the trade laws would be beyond my present purpose. 1869 J. Martineau Ess. II. 76 Some offences..are beyond detection. 1885 Sir L. Cave in Law Times' Rep. LII. 629/2 We cannot go beyond the written agreement. |
b. to be beyond a person (colloq.): to pass his comprehension.
| 1812 Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1847) III. i. 280 This is beyond me, said he. 1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude vii. 250 Why Gordon should take such a fancy to that old sissy is beyond me. 1966 Listener 12 May 699/1 How someone like Anthony de Lotbinière, its producer, could make Japan boring is beyond me, but he succeeded. |
6. esp. with nouns expressing an action or a state of mind, as belief, doubt, endurance, expectation, question, etc.: Not within the range of, not according to, past, surpassing.
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 25 These things are beyond all vse. 1610 ― Temp. ii. i. 59 Which is indeed almost beyond credit. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 135 'Tis beyond even an Atheist's Credulity. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 285 His Spectacles were almost beyond belief. 1758 Bp. Newton Dissert. xvii. Wks. II. 400 Adversity..often procures friends beyond hope and expectation. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 197 France was now, beyond all doubt, the greatest power in Europe. |
7. Exceeding in quantity or amount, more than. (As with above, the phrase beyond a hundred, etc. may be the subject of a sentence.)
| ? a 1500 Battle Egyngec. 238 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 102 There dyed by yonde .vii. score vpon a day. 1605 Lond. Prodigal i. i. 220 Doth he spend beyond the allowance I left him? 1653 Walton Angler i. 34 When he was beyond Seventy years of age he made this description. 1885 Law Rep. XXIX. Chanc. Div. 528 To an amount far beyond their value. |
8. a. Surpassing in quality or degree, exceeding, superior to; more than.
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 51 The Shepherd's homely Curds..Is farre beyond a Princes Delicates. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. 55 Were so much beyond our vessels in sayling. 1634 Milton Comus 813 Delight Beyond the bliss of dreams. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones (1836) I. i. xi. 52 His shoulders were broad beyond all size. 1873 Tristram Moab ii. 35 Our guide, looking on game as far beyond names in importance. |
b. beyond measure (advb. phr.): more than what is meet or moderate; exceedingly, excessively.
| 1526 Tindale Mark vii. 37 They..were beyonde measure astonyed [so 1611]. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 90 Shrow'd and froward, so beyond all measure. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 89, I am delighted beyond measure. |
9. In addition to, besides, over and above; in negative and interrog. sentences almost = Except; cf. besides B 2 and 3.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. i. 281 Ouer and biȝende the citees. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. xi. §4 Somewhat beyond and above all this. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 135 Bring me a constant woman to her Husband, One that ne're dream'd a Ioy, beyond his pleasure. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. (1826) II. cxi. App. 112 The Conqueror ordained that the barons should be obliged to pay nothing beyond their stated services. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. vi, No prospect of breakfast beyond elemental liquid. 1851 Dixon W. Penn xvi. (1872) 134 Beyond his labours as a preacher, he composed..twenty-six books of controversy. |
10. When beyond = ‘farther than,’ ‘more than,’ introduces an adverbial extension of the predicate, the clause in which it occurs is often contracted; They prospered beyond other men = ‘beyond the measure in which other men prospered’; I went a step beyond Whiston = ‘beyond the point to which he went.’
| 1578 Gude & Godely Ball. 127 His bemis send he hes out far Beȝond vther sternis all [i.e. beyond the distance to which all other stars have sent theirs]. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows i. §29. 44 They go in inhumane cruelty beyond the Heathen. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 805 That were to extend His Sentence beyond dust and Natures Law. 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. xix. §7. 232 The plant grows luxuriant beyond what we have in Cornwall. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. ii. (1806) 6, I even went a step beyond Whiston in displaying my principles. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 154 The discarded warriors prospered beyond other men. |
C. quasi-n. a. That which lies on the other side or farther away, the remote or distant; that which lies beyond our present life or experience.
| 1581 Savile Tacitus' Hist. iv. viii. 174 Beyond [ulteriora] he honored and admired, but professed to follow the present estate. 1835 Lytton Rienzi x. viii, Each is the yearning for the Great Beyond, which attests our immortality. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. iii. 47 Love..wants a beyond, and no being that is without this beyond can duly answer to it as an object. 1885 J. Martineau Eth. Theory I. 281 They are the All, with no beyond. |
b. the back of beyond: a humorous phrase for ever so far off, some very out of the way place.
| 1816 Scott Antiq. I. 37 (Jam.) You..whirled them to the back of beyont to look at the auld Roman camp. 1853 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun Wks. III. 12 Which port (according to a smart American adage) is to be looked for at the back of beyond. 1883 Stevenson Silv. Squatters 151 In the fastnesses of Nature, forests, mountains, and the back of man's beyond. |
D. Comb. beyond-man, an early synonym of superman; † beyond-sea a. (cf. B 1), ultramarine, outlandish, foreign; hence † beyond-sea-ship, humorously applied to a foreign prince (cf. lordship).
| 1498 Will. of Petyt (Somerset Ho), Ij paire of beyond see shetes. 1534 Eng. Ch. Furniture 209 A paynted cloth of beyond see werk. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 580 The garden Mallow called the winter or beyond see roose. Ibid. 682 The red beyondsea Gooseberie. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster iv. ii, I never loved his beyond-sea-ship. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. viii. (1840) 192 Henceforward the beyond-sea world took notice of him. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 10 Excessive Lust of Novelty..has stung many with an Itch of bringing in beyond-Sea words. 1896 A. Tille tr. Nietzsche's Thus spake Zarathustra in Wks. VIII. 5 Behold, I teach you beyond-man! Beyond-man is the significance of earth. Your will shall say: beyond-man shall be the significance of earth. Ibid. 129 Never yet beyond-man existed. I have seen them both naked, the greatest and the smallest man. 1896 T. Common tr. Nietzsche's Twilight of Idols in Wks. XI. 198 To be set up..as a ‘higher man’, as a kind of beyond-man. 1908 Athenæum 13 June 729/1 The ‘Super-tramp’ is..the opposite of the ‘oversoul’ or ‘beyond-man’. a 1917 G. B. Shaw Let. in Trans. Philol. Soc. 1916–20 (1932) 8 Some of our most felicitous writers..had been using such desperate and unspeakable forms as Beyondman, when the glib Superman was staring them in the face all the time. |