Beyond

/bɪˈjɒnd/

prepositionBeginner🔥Very CommonGeneral
2 meanings1 idiom/phrase1 question

Definitions

2 meanings
1

At a further distance or point than.

/bɪˈjɒnd/

prepositionneutralBeginner
General

At or to a greater distance than.

The shop is beyond the park.

💡 Simply: Further than.

More Examples

2

Her beauty was beyond compare.

How It's Used

General

"The house is beyond the river."

Spatial

"The mountains stretched beyond the horizon."

2

To a greater extent or degree.

/bɪˈjɒnd/

adverbneutralBeginner
General

At a more distant point or extent.

The movie went beyond my expectations.

💡 Simply: Further than expected.

More Examples

2

The task was beyond her abilities.

How It's Used

General

"The project went beyond expectations."

Tip:Think of going past a limit.

Idioms & expressions

beyond the pale

Unacceptable; outside the bounds of what is considered proper or tolerable.

"His behavior was beyond the pale."

From Middle English *biyonde, from Old English *be geond, literally "by yonder," from *be- + geond ("across, beyond").

Historically, 'beyond' was often used in a more literal sense of physical distance, but it evolved to encompass figurative meanings of exceeding limits.

Memory tip

Think 'be' (to be) 'yond' (yonder, over there).

Word Origin

Original meaning

"by yonder"

beyond beliefbeyond comparebeyond doubtbeyond measure

Common misspellings

beyoundbeyonnd

Usage

70%Spoken
85%Written