Bygone
/ˈbaɪ.ɡɒn/noun
Belonging to an earlier time; past.
Did you know?Bygone is a relic of the old English past participle of beon/gān-style forms, and it survived mainly in the phrase “bygone days,” where it carries a haunting sense of time already passed.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
bi-gone
“gone by; past”
Middle English
ME
bygone
“passed, elapsed; from earlier times”
16th Century
English
bygone
“past; departed; no longer current”
Modern English
English
bygone
“belonging to an earlier time”