Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Afore

Afore ({not transcribed}) , adverb

[Old English afore, aforn, Anglo-Saxon onforan or atforan; pref. a- + fore.]

1.
Before. [Obsolete]
If he have never drunk wine afore. — Shakespeare
2.
(Nautical) In the fore part of a vessel.

Afore , preposition

1.
Before (in all its senses). [Archaic]
2.
(Nautical) Before; in front of; farther forward than; as, afore the windlass.
Collocations (1)
Afore the mast , among the common sailors; -- a phrase used to distinguish the ship's crew from the officers.