long ago

English

Adverb

long ago (not comparable)

At a time in the past, especially the distant past.
There was a Roman fort here long ago.
How long ago did she die? It's not that long ago that she did.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients‎:
  That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.
- 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist‎^{[=http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2013/4/focus-on-everything]}:
  Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.

Synonyms

(at a time in the past): long since, a long time ago; see also Thesaurus:long ago

Antonyms

recently; see also Thesaurus:recently

Translations

at a time in the distant past

Afrikaans: lank gelede
Armenian: հեռու անցեալը (heṙu ancʿealə), շատոնց (hy) (šatoncʿ)
Azerbaijani: çoxdan, xeyli zaman bundan əvvəl
Belarusian: даўно́ (daŭnó)
Bulgarian: отдавна (bg) (otdavna)
Cherokee: ᎪᎯᎩ (gohigi)
Chickasaw: hopaakikaashookano
Chinese:
Cantonese: 早已 (dzou² ji⁵)
Mandarin: 很久以前 (hěnjiǔ yǐqián), 早已 (zh) (zǎoyǐ), 悠遠／悠远 (zh) (yōuyuǎn)
Czech: dávno (cs)
Danish: for længst
Dutch: lang geleden
Esperanto: antaŭlonge
Finnish: kauan sitten
French: jadis (fr), il y a longtemps
German: vor alter Zeit, längst (de)
Greek:
Ancient: πάλαι (pálai)
Hebrew: מִזְּמַן‎ (he) (mizmán)
Hungarian: régen (hu)
Icelandic: fyrir löngu (is), (formally) forðum, (archaic) frá fornu fari, endur fyrir löngu (is), fyrir lifandi löngu, fyrir löngu síðan
Indonesian: dahulu kala (id)
Irish: i bhfad ó shin, fadó
Italian: tempo fa
Japanese: 昔々 (むかしむかし, mukashi-mukashi), ずっと前に (zutto mae ni), とっくに (tokku ni)
Javanese: please add this translation if you can
Korean: 옛날에 (ko) (yennare), 오래전 (ko) (oraejeon)
Latin: prīdem, iam prīdem, iamprīdem
Maori: tua whakarere
Navajo: ałkʼidą́ą́ʼ
Ngazidja Comorian: hale
Old Norse: fyr lǫngu, forðum, ár
Plains Cree: ᑲᔮᐢ, kayâs
Polish: dawno temu, dawno (pl)
Portuguese: há muito tempo (atrás)
Russian: давно́ (ru) (davnó), давны́м-давно́ (ru) (davným-davnó)
Scots: lang syne
Scottish Gaelic: o shean, o chionn fhada
Slovak: dávno (sk)
Spanish: hace tiempo, tiempo ha
Swedish: längesen (sv), länge sedan (sv)
Thai: นานมาแล้ว (naan-maa-lɛ́ɛo)
Turkish: zamanında (tr), eskiden (tr), uzun zaman önce
Ukrainian: давно́ (davnó)
Vietnamese: ngày xửa ngày xưa (vi), ngày xưa (vi)

Adjective

long ago (not comparable)

Existing in the relatively distant past.
- 2012 October 7, Austen, Ian, “Canada Puts Spotlight on War of 1812, With U.S. as Villain”, in New York Times‎:
  The answer, according to James Moore, who as minister of Canadian heritage is in charge of the campaign, is that the government simply wants the long-ago war, which few Canadians know well, to be remembered.
- 2019 July 18, “B/R NFL Expert Picks for 2019 Division Winners”, in Bleacher Report‎:
  Back in the long ago days of the 2000 season, the New England Patriots were a 5-11 mess of a team that finished in the cellar of the AFC East. It was an inauspicious start to the tenure of head coach Bill Belichick.

Synonyms

ancient, bygone; see also Thesaurus:past

Anagrams

go along, go-along