Before is merely an outline of time in question prior to an event, action, date or time. Beforehand is the description of the duration of time outlined in question.

beforehand (adv.) also before-hand, “in anticipation,” early 13c., from before + hand, which here is of uncertain signification, unless the original notion is payment in advance or something done before another’s hand does it.

1a : in anticipation. b : in advance. 2 : ahead of time : early.

1) They proposed to make arrangement beforehand. 2) It is reasonable to assume that he knew beforehand that this would happen. 3) I have to say in her defence that she knew nothing about it beforehand. 4) The police need to be briefed beforehand on how to deal with this sort of situation.

“Beforehand” is also used to say that X happened at an earlier time, but it has the added meaning of “in advance” or ” in anticipation.” There is a sense that some planning is involved in the action, or that the subject is expecting something.

Because the US is a melting pot of languages, lots of older terms still hang around and are used in casual conversation—beforehand and in advance can be used and people will understand them.

adverb, adjective in anticipation; in advance; ahead of time: We should have made reservations beforehand.

The Answer. Afterhand actually was a word that dates back to the 15th century and is the opposite of beforehand. For an unknown reason, one word survived and the other didn’t. Actually, afterhand goes all the way back to 15th-century English, even though it’s not that commonly used today.

formal : mentioned before : spoken about or named earlier. See the full definition for aforementioned in the English Language Learners Dictionary. aforementioned. adjective.

adj usually prenominal (chiefly in legal documents) stated or mentioned before or already. aforetime, afore, afreet, afternoon.

“Aforementioned” is more formal. More important, both words are old-fashioned and pompous.