Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • preposition On the far side of; past.
  • preposition Later than; after.
  • preposition To a degree that is past the understanding, reach, or scope of.
  • preposition To a degree or amount greater than.
  • preposition In addition to.
  • adverb Farther along or away.
  • adverb In addition; more.
  • noun That which is past or to a degree greater than knowledge or experience; the unknown.
  • noun The world beyond death; the hereafter.
  • idiom (back of beyond) A place that is remote or unsophisticated.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That place or state which lies on the other side; an experience or life beyond our present life or experience: as, the great beyond.
  • On or to the other side of: as, beyond the river; beyond the horizon; “beyond that flaming hill,”
  • Further on than; more distant than: as, a mile beyond the river; a hundred miles beyond Omaha; he never could get beyond simple equations.
  • Past in time; later than: as, a day beyond the proper time.
  • At a place or time not yet reached by; before; ahead or in advance of.
  • Out of reach of; outside of the capacity, limits, or sphere of; past: as, beyond our power; beyond comprehension; that is beyond me.
  • Above; superior to; in or to a degree which rivals, exceeds, or surpasses, as in dignity, excellence, or quality of any kind.
  • More than; in excess of; over and above.
  • At a distance; yonder.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb Further away; at a distance; yonder.
  • preposition On the further side of; in the same direction as, and further on or away than.
  • preposition At a place or time not yet reached; before.
  • preposition Past, out of the reach or sphere of; further than; greater than.
  • preposition In a degree or amount exceeding or surpassing; proceeding to a greater degree than; above, as in dignity, excellence, or quality of any kind.
  • preposition (Law) See under Sea.
  • preposition to exceed in ingenuity, in research, or in anything else; hence, in a bed sense, to deceive or circumvent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • preposition Further away than.
  • preposition On the far side of.
  • preposition Later than; after.
  • preposition Greater than.
  • preposition In addition to.
  • preposition past, or out of reach of
  • adverb Farther along or away.
  • adverb In addition; more.
  • noun The unknown.
  • noun The hereafter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb on the farther side from the observer
  • adverb farther along in space or time or degree
  • adverb in addition

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English biyonde, from Old English begeondan : be, by; see by + geondan, on the far side of; see i- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English beġeondan

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Examples

  • And in the clause 'having passed beyond that bridge' the _passing beyond_ means

    The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja — Sacred Books of the East, Volume 48 George Thibaut 1881

  • a new power! we feel a vague sympathy with _that_ unknown region which spreads beyond this great net, -- _that limitless beyond_ hath a mystic affinity with a part of our own frame; we unconsciously extend our wings (for the soul to us is as the wings to the fly!); we attempt to rise, -- to soar above this perilous snare, from which we are unable to crawl.

    Devereux — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • The event has long been cast by opponents of President Hamid Karzai as the first step in his attempts to increase his power and perhaps extend his term beyond 2014.

    News 2011

  • The event has long been cast by opponents of President Hamid Karzai as the first step in his attempts to increase his power and perhaps extend his term beyond 2014.

    News 2011

  • The historian Thomas Carlyle in 1839 was the first to extend the term beyond India by decrying “the Glasgow Thugs,” and he also coined thuggery.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • The historian Thomas Carlyle in 1839 was the first to extend the term beyond India by decrying “the Glasgow Thugs,” and he also coined thuggery.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • The historian Thomas Carlyle in 1839 was the first to extend the term beyond India by decrying “the Glasgow Thugs,” and he also coined thuggery.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • The historian Thomas Carlyle in 1839 was the first to extend the term beyond India by decrying “the Glasgow Thugs,” and he also coined thuggery.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther broadened the term beyond ministry to include work that serves others, but still couched it in a religious framework.

    Chris Stedman: Do Only Religious People Have A 'Calling'? Chris Stedman 2011

  • During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther broadened the term beyond ministry to include work that serves others, but still couched it in a religious framework.

    Chris Stedman: Do Only Religious People Have A 'Calling'? Chris Stedman 2011

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