beyond

English

Etymology

From Middle English biyonde, from Old English beġeondan, from be- +‎ ġeond; related to yonder.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈjɒnd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /biˈ(j)ɑnd/
• (New England, obsolete) IPA^(key): /bɪˈjɛnd/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnd
• Hyphenation: be‧yond

Preposition

beyond

1. Further away than.
2. On the far side of.

   No swimming beyond this point.

   • 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:

     England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco.

3. Later than; after.
4. Greater than; so as to exceed or surpass.

   Your staff went beyond my expectations in refunding my parking ticket.

   • 2006, Janis Mink, Joan Miró, →ISBN, page 55:

     He was a painter who was trying to get beyond painting, to escape from purely visual experience and lead his art in a more conceptual direction with a systematic approach.

5. In addition to; supplementing.

   She had no reason for the conviction beyond the very inadequate one that she had seen him around London.

6. (figurative) Past, or out of reach of.

   You won't last beyond my first punch.

   The patient was beyond medical help.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

     Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

   • 1962 March, J. M. Tolson, “The Netherlands Railways today—I”, in Modern Railways, page 172:

     The 1300 class (Nos. 1301-16), one of which was damaged beyond repair in an accident, are Co-Cos, weigh 111 tons and have a top speed of 85 m.p.h.

7. (figurative) Not within the comprehension of.

   He understood geometry well, but algebraic topology was beyond him.

Synonyms

• ayond
• ayont

Antonyms

• before
• earlier

Derived terms

• above and beyond
• beyond a reasonable doubt
• beyond a shadow of a doubt
• beyond a shadow of doubt
• beyond belief
• beyond compare
• beyond dispute
• beyond doubt
• beyondish
• beyond measure
• beyondness
• beyond one's ken
• beyond one's pay grade
• beyond one's wildest dreams
• beyond one's years
• beyond question
• beyond reasonable doubt
• beyond redemption
• beyond seas
• beyond someone's grasp
• beyond the black stump
• beyond the call of duty
• beyond the grave
• beyond the pale
• beyond the shadow of a doubt
• beyondward
• beyond words
• beyonsense
• go beyond
• live beyond one's means
• look beyond
• look beyond the end of one's nose
• look beyond the tip of one's nose
• see beyond
• see beyond the end of one's nose
• see beyond the tip of one's nose
• therebeyond
• wise beyond one's years

 

Translations

further away than

• Afrikaans: anderkant
• Arabic: أَبْعَد (ʔabʕad)

  Egyptian Arabic: أبعد (ʔabʕad)

• Armenian: դուրս (hy) (durs)
• Belarusian: за (za), па-за́ (pa-zá), зза́ду (zzádu)
• Bulgarian: отзад (bg) (otzad), след (bg) (sled)
• Catalan: enllà (ca)
• Coptic: ⲛⲃⲗ- (nbl-) (Sahidic), ⲙⲡⲃⲗ- (mpbl-) (Akhmimic), ⲛⲃⲗⲗ⸗ (nbll⸗), ⲛⲃⲗⲗⲁ⸗ (nblla⸗), ⲙⲡⲃⲗⲗⲉ⸗ (mpblle⸗), ⲙⲃⲗⲗⲉ⸗ (mblle⸗)
• Czech: za (cs)
• Dutch: verder weg dan, voorbij (nl)
• Esperanto: preter (eo)
• Finnish: kauempana kuin; takana (fi)
• French: au-delà (fr), par-delà (fr)
• Galician: alén, alén
• Greek:

  Ancient: πέρα (péra) (+ gen.)

• Italian: oltre (it), (al) di là di, dall'altra parte di, più di
• Khiamniungan Naga: ājâilè
• Latin: utra (la), ultra
• Macedonian: отаде (otade)
• Neapolitan: chiù allà
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bortenfor (no)

• Persian: فرا (fa) (farâ)
• Polish: poza (pl)
• Portuguese: além (pt)
• Russian: за (ru) (za), позади́ (ru) (pozadí), да́льше (ru) (dálʹše)
• Spanish: más allá de, más allá (es)
• Turkish: öte (tr)
• Ukrainian: за (uk) (za), поза́ду (pozádu), зза́ду (zzádu), ізза́ду (izzádu), поза́д (pozád), по́за (póza)
• Walloon: houte di (wa), djudla di

on the far side of

• Afrikaans: verder (af), verby
• Arabic: أَقْصَى (ar) (ʔaqṣā)

  Egyptian Arabic: أبعد (ʔabʕad)

• Bulgarian: отвъд (bg) (otvǎd)
• Catalan: dellà (ca)
• Danish: hinsides
• Esperanto: trans (eo)
• Faroese: handan
• Finnish: kauempana kuin
• French: au-delà (fr)
• German: jenseits (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πέρα (péra) (+ gen.)

• Irish: lastall de
• Italian: oltre (it)
• Khiamniungan Naga: ājâilè, ājâilè
• Latin: trans (la)
• Maori: ki tua, kei tua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bortenfor (no)

• Polish: poza (pl)
• Portuguese: além (pt)
• Russian: за (ru) (za), позади́ (ru) (pozadí)
• Spanish: más allá de, allende (es)
• Ukrainian: за межами (za mežamy)

later than; after

• Afrikaans: meer (af), buite (af)
• Arabic: بَعْد (ar) (baʕd)

  Egyptian Arabic: بعد (baʕd)

• Armenian: ուշ (hy) (uš)
• Bulgarian: след (bg) (sled)
• Finnish: myöhemmin kuin; jälkeen (fi)
• Italian: dopo (it)
• Latin: ultra
• Russian: по́сле (ru) (pósle)

greater than

• Arabic: فَوْق (ar) (fawq)

  Egyptian Arabic: فوق (fūʔ)

• Finnish: yli (fi)
• Italian: oltre (it)
• Latin: ultra
• Russian: вы́ше (ru) (výše)
• Swedish: bortom (sv)

in addition to

• Arabic: فَوْقَ (ar) (fawqa)

  Egyptian Arabic: فوق كدا (fūʔ kedā)

• Armenian: բացի (hy) (bacʻi), դուրս (hy) (durs)
• Finnish: lisäksi (fi)
• Irish: le cois
• Italian: oltre (it)
• Latin: ultra
• Russian: кро́ме (ru) (króme), не счита́я (ru) (ne sčitája)

past, out of reach of

• Bengali: বাইরে (bn) (baire)
• Finnish: ulottumattomissa, yläpuolella (fi)

beyond — see above

See also

• para-

Adverb

beyond (not comparable)

1. Farther along or away.

   Synonyms: ayond, (obsolete) ayont

   next year and beyond

2. In addition; more.
3. (informal) extremely, more than

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:extremely

   • 2009, Jenny Lee, Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 7:

     But to then write about his allegedly fat girlfriend was beyond stupid, because by doing so he was in fact engaging a woman (me) in the “Am I fat?” discussion, which he supposedly realized he should never do.

   • 2017 July 13, Joseph Gamp, “Marvel release stirring new set images of Black Panther and we are BEYOND excited”, in Metro‎^[2]:

     Marvel release stirring new set images of Black Panther and we are BEYOND excited [title]

   • 2021 September 1, Michael Levenson, Anne Barnard, quoting Mark Levine, “Scenes from New York City as Ida paralyzes region”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     “We are BEYOND not ready for climate change,” Mark Levine, a City Council representative, declared on Twitter.

Translations

farther along or away

• Finnish: kauempana (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὑπερέκεινα (huperékeina)

• Irish: lastall
• Spanish: más allá (es)

in addition; more

• Finnish: lisäksi (fi)

Noun

beyond (plural beyonds)

1. The unknown.
2. The hereafter.
3. Something that is far beyond.
   • 2006, Haun Saussy, American Comparative Literature Association, Comparative Literature in an Age of Globalization‎^[4]:

     And that is perhaps why I am constantly searching for great beyonds — beyonds that will permit the application of different theoretical models (be they semiotically-inspired, gender-inspired, sexuality-inspired, and so on) beyond any disciplinary confines.

Derived terms

• back of beyond
• beyond the beyonds
• great beyond

Translations

unknown — see unknown

afterlife — see afterlife

Further reading

• “beyond”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “beyond”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Bondye, Boyden