ante litteram
Before the term existedBefore the term existed; before the term was coined.
Meaning
1 sensesBefore the term existed; before the term was coined.
In the fifteenth century, he espoused ecology ante litteram. He endorsed ecology before the term "ecology" existed.
Origin
From Latin ante (“before”) + litteram, accusative singular of littera (“letter, writing”).From Latin ante (“before”) + litteram, accusative singular of littera (“letter, writing”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.