I. |hir]d.ə|fō(ə)r, |hiə], ]tə-, -fȯ(ə)r, -ōə, -ȯ(ə)\ adverb
Etymology: Middle English heretofore, heretoforn, from here + tofore, toforn before, from Old English tōforan, from tō to + foran before, from fore — more at to , fore
: before this : up to this time : hitherto
I tell you now what we have heretofore kept secret from you — A.C.Whitehead
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English heretoforn, from heretoforn, adverb
archaic : previous
in his heretofore voyages — Nathaniel Hawthorne