Definition of ANTEBELLUM

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Antebellum means "before the war," but it wasn’t widely associated with the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) until after that conflict was over. The word comes from the Latin phrase ante bellum (literally, "before the war"), and its earliest known print appearance in English dates back to the 1840s. The term's earliest known association with the Civil War is found in an 1862 diary entry: "Her face was as placid and unmoved as in antebellum days." The author of that line, Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, recorded her observations of life during the Civil War in A Diary from Dixie, often while accompanying her husband, an officer in the Confederate army, on his missions.

Examples of antebellum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Members of the city’s white elite would dress in antebellum outfits and perform spirituals, unaware of jarring ironies. — Edward Rothstein, WSJ, "A Historical Society Grapples With the Past," 10 Oct. 2018 The estate spans roughly 87 acres; at the center sits a Southern antebellum Greek Revival Plantation home with sprawling rear verandas overlooking the North Newport River. — Katherine Clarke, WSJ, "The Secluded Island Hideaways for America’s Rich and Famous," 23 Aug. 2018 The coastal city in Georgia has attracted many U.S. residents and Europeans because of its antebellum architecture, cobblestone streets and large parks and squares, all along the water. — Nancy Trejos, USA TODAY, "Dream homes: Five tempting homes for sale in Savannah," 11 July 2018 The estimable Charleston Museum is about to unveil a new section about the war with a more dispassionate perspective, but there is no doubt about how radically the war tore apart the antebellum world. — Edward Rothstein, WSJ, "A Historical Society Grapples With the Past," 10 Oct. 2018 Through March 3, 2019 This survey makes plain the violence done by those who jettisoned Reconstruction in the decade after the Civil War and wrestled to restore the South’s antebellum racial regime, gussied up in nostalgic sentiment. — Edward Rothstein, WSJ, "‘Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow’ Review: Oppression’s Long Shadow," 10 Sep. 2018 But the case of antebellum Boston suggests that teaching people how to look at a picture or read a newspaper alike won’t necessarily restore social bonds strained by class, geography, and partisanship. — Justin T. Clark, BostonGlobe.com, "Building Boston to shape morality," 14 Apr. 2018 Most notably, the Clifford House provides insight into authentic antebellum style. — Michael Candelaria, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Eustis Neighborhood Guide," 21 June 2018 African slaves built the American south; without free labor to work it, the worth of the land of antebellum plantation owners was questionable. — Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader, "History repeats itself over and over again at the African Diaspora Film Festival," 8 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antebellum.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.