bygone

From by (adverb) +‎ gone.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪɡɒn/, (dated) /-ɡɔːn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪɡɔn/, /-ɡɑn/
• Homophone: bigon (depending on the dialect)
• Hyphenation: by‧gone

bygone (not comparable)

1. Having been or happened in the distant past.
   • 1922, Williams, Margery, The Velveteen Rabbit:

     Near by he could see the thicket of raspberry canes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadow he had played with the Boy on bygone mornings.

   • 1962 June, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, page 399:

     Travellers over the London & North Western main line in bygone days will need no reminder of the pattering of cinders on the carriage roofs, the fountains of sparks from the chimneys at night and the distance from which the exhaust of approaching locomotives could be heard, due to the fierceness of their blast in such conditions.

• foregone, historical; see also Thesaurus:past

bygone (plural bygones)

1. (usually in the plural) An event that happened in the past.
   • 1881, Pearl Hyem, The fisherman's cove; or, Christianity realised (page 54)

     Jennie Fox watched it with thoughtful pleasure, and the rest were chatting and telling of bygones, enjoying a glass of egg-hot; it being a custom for them to partake of this beverage on this particular night.

• let bygones be bygones

• gone by