Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Belonging to or occurring in the past; former: "bygone" describes something that existed or happened in a time that is now past, often evoking a sense of nostalgia or history.

2. Noun (usually plural: bygones):

   • A thing, especially a grievance, from the past: "bygones" refers to past events, typically unpleasant ones like arguments or conflicts, that are best forgotten or forgiven.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • We visited the museum to see artifacts from bygone eras.
  • She often tells stories about the bygone days of her youth.

• Noun (bygones):

  • After their argument, they decided to let bygones be bygones and start fresh.
  • He urged everyone to forget the bygones and focus on the future.

Advanced Usage

• "Of bygone days/years/eras": used to specify a period in the distant past.

  • The novel is set in the bygone years of the Victorian age.

• "A relic of a bygone age": describes an object or custom that survives from the past.

  • The old steam train is a charming relic of a bygone age.

Variants and Related Words

• Bygones (n, plural): The standard noun form, almost exclusively used in the plural to refer to past grievances.
  • We agreed that bygones should be bygones.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Past, former, olden, departed, foregone, ancient.
• Noun (bygones): Past grievances, old quarrels, former disputes.

Related Phrases

• Let bygones be bygones (idiom): To forgive and forget past offenses or conflicts; to agree to put past disagreements behind you.
  • It's time to let bygones be bygones and work together again.

Adjective

1. well in the past; former
   • bygone days
   • dreams of foregone times
   • sweet memories of gone summers
   • relics of a departed era

Noun

1. past events to be put aside
   • let bygones be bygones