long ago

See also: long-ago

English

Adverb

long ago (comparative longer ago, superlative longest ago)

1. At a time in the past, especially the distant past.

   There was a Roman fort here long ago.

   How long ago did she die? It's not that long ago that she did.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.

   • 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist‎^[1], archived from the original on 11 May 2017:

     Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.

Synonyms

• (at a time in the past): long since, a long time ago; see also Thesaurus:long ago

Antonyms

• recently; see also Thesaurus:recently

Translations

at a time in the distant past

• Afrikaans: lank gelede, toeka
• Arabic: قَدِيماً (qadīman)
• Armenian: վաղուց (hy) (vaġucʻ), (dialectal) շատոնց (hy) (šatoncʻ)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡ̣ܢ ܙܲܒ݂ܢܵܐ (min zaḇnā), ܡ̣ܢ ܓ̰ܲܠܕܹܐ (min jaldē)
• Azerbaijani: çoxdan, xeyli zaman bundan əvvəl
• Belarusian: даўно́ (daŭnó)
• Bulgarian: отдавна (bg) (otdavna)
• Cherokee: ᎪᎯᎩ (gohigi)
• Chickasaw: hopaakikaashookano
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 早已 (zou² ji⁵)

  Mandarin: 很久以前 (hěnjiǔ yǐqián), 早已 (zh) (zǎoyǐ), 悠遠 / 悠远 (zh) (yōuyuǎn)

• Czech: dávno (cs)
• Danish: for længst
• Dutch: lang geleden
• Esperanto: antaŭlonge
• Finnish: kauan sitten
• French: jadis (fr), il y a longtemps
• German: vor alter Zeit, längst (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πάλαι (pálai)

• Hebrew: מִזְּמַן (he) (mizmán), מִקֶּדֶם (he) (miqqédem)
• Hungarian: régen (hu)
• Icelandic: fyrir löngu (is), (formally) forðum, (archaic) frá fornu fari, endur fyrir löngu (is), fyrir lifandi löngu, fyrir löngu síðan
• Indonesian: dahulu kala (id)
• Irish: i bhfad ó shin, fadó
• Italian: tempo fa
• Japanese: 昔々 (ja) (むかしむかし, mukashi-mukashi), ずっと前に (zutto mae ni), とっくに (tokku ni)
• Javanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 옛날에 (ko) (yennare), 오래전 (ko) (oraejeon)
• Latin: prīdem, iam prīdem, iamprīdem, olim (la)
• Maori: tua whakarere
• Navajo: ałkʼidą́ą́ʼ
• Ngazidja Comorian: hale
• Old English: ġefyrn
• Old Norse: fyr lǫngu, forðum, ár
• Plains Cree: ᑲᔮᐢ, kayâs
• Polish: dawno temu, dawno (pl)
• Portuguese: há muito tempo (atrás)
• Russian: давно́ (ru) (davnó), давны́м-давно́ (ru) (davným-davnó)
• Scots: lang syne
• Scottish Gaelic: o shean, o chionn fhada
• Slovak: dávno (sk)
• Spanish: hace tiempo, tiempo ha
• Swahili: zamani (sw)
• Swedish: längesen (sv), länge sedan (sv), fordom (sv)
• Thai: นานมาแล้ว (naan-maa-lɛ́ɛo)
• Turkish: zamanında (tr), eskiden (tr), uzun zaman önce
• Ukrainian: давно́ (davnó)
• Vietnamese: ngày xửa ngày xưa (vi), ngày xưa (vi)
• Yoruba: láyé àtijọ́, láyé ijọ́un, níjọ́un

Adjective

long ago (not comparable)

1. Existing in the relatively distant past.
   • 2012 October 7, Ian Austen, “Canada Puts Spotlight on War of 1812, With U.S. as Villain”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     The answer, according to James Moore, who as minister of Canadian heritage is in charge of the campaign, is that the government simply wants the long-ago war, which few Canadians know well, to be remembered.

   • 2019 July 18, “B/R NFL Expert Picks for 2019 Division Winners”, in Bleacher Report‎^[3]:

     Back in the long ago days of the 2000 season, the New England Patriots were a 5-11 mess of a team that finished in the cellar of the AFC East. It was an inauspicious start to the tenure of head coach Bill Belichick.

Alternative forms

• long-ago

Synonyms

• ancient, bygone; see also Thesaurus:past

Anagrams

• go along, go-along