antebellum

Definition

Of the time period prior to a war.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ante bellum (literally “before the war”).

Example Sentences

• "A renewed sense of national pride arose in Hitler's antebellum Germany."
• "Slavery was an accepted part of antebellum plantation life."
• "There was no single characteristic house style during the antebellum period, but the elegant plantation homes built in the American South, with their central entrances, balconies, columns, and formal ballrooms, came closest to representing a discrete architectural style for the period."