syne

adv

1. (Northern-England, Scotland, not-comparable)Subsequently; then.

   “At last he comes, and on his knee The wee tots a'thegether cling, An' ilk yen strives to catch his ee, Syne tugs his cwoat an' bids him sing.”

   “Sic a pair o' friends aa nivvor seed either before or syne.”

   “Yet in two-three years they'd chaved and saved enough for gear and furnishings, and were married at last, and syne Will was born, and syne Chris herself was born, and the Guthries rented a farm in Echt […].”

2. (Northern-England, Scotland, not-comparable)Late.

   “[Each rogue] shall be discovered either soon or syne.”

   “"I had rather it came to-morrow than a month hence. Come, I know, it will; and, as your country folks say, better soon than syne […]”

3. (Northern-England, Scotland, not-comparable)Before now; ago.

   “I eat, drink, and sleep as sound as I did twenty years syne; yes, I laugh heartily too, and find as many subjects to employ that faculty upon as ever; fools, fops, and knaves, grow as rank as formerly, yet here and there, […]”

   “Camden Lyde had come to dwell in Mapleblade, a long while syne. His father had been in times past the parish parson, and the son was kindly affectionate to the old village scenes, and to the faces that seemed in some sort to belong to him[…]”

prep

1. (Northern-England, Scotland)Since.

   “I've niver set fute i' Gibb's Ha' syne his father's death.”

   “Shoo's […] gitten fair pratty, syne Maister Allen gat wed.”