Etymology From Middle English yore, yoare, yare, ȝore, ȝare, ȝeare, from Old English ġeāra (“long ago”), of unclear origin but probably from Proto-Germanic *jērǫ̂ (literally “of years”), the genitive plural of Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”). More at year.
It appeared strange to me that the “little dipper” should be still diving quietly in the river, as of yore; and it suggested that this bird might continue to dive here when Concord should be no more.1860, Henry David Thoreau, The Last Days of John Brown:
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In days of yore and times long gone before there was a Sultan of India who begat three sons; the eldest hight Prince Husayn, the second Prince Ali, and the youngest Prince Ahmad; moreover he had a niece, named Princess Nur al-Nihár, the daughter of his cadet brother who, dying early, left his only child under her uncle's charge.1886-88, Richard Francis Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night:
Several logistics executives told me that if half-full freight vans from multiple firms kept congesting the streets, the best solution might be for every retailer to use a single firm instead. One delivery service to rule them all – just like the postal service of yore.2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian:
Etymology From Middle English yore, yoare, yare, ȝore, ȝare, ȝeare, from Old English ġeāra (“long ago”), of unclear origin but probably from Proto-Germanic *jērǫ̂ (literally “of years”), the genitive plural of Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”). More at year.
Which though he hath polluted oft and yore, / Yet I to them for iudgement iust do fly1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 26: