Definition of "ere"

ere¹

/ɛə/

adverb
not comparable
1. (obsolete) At an earlier time.
  Quotations
  Thys is he of whome I spake, he that commeth after me, was before me be cause he was yer than I.
  1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], John j:]
preposition
1. (poetic, archaic) Before; sooner than.
  Quotations
  Stirring ere the break of day.
  1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […]
  The hill-tops rejoicing will ere long be at their ruddiest, and blush Good-night.
  1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter 6, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, book IV (Varennes)
conjunction
1. (poetic, archaic) Before.
  Quotations
  Sir, come down ere my child die.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], John 4:49
  Ere sails were spread new oceans to explore.
  1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]

ere²

/ɪə(ɹ)/

noun
plural eres
1. Obsolete form of ear.
  Quotations
  As plesaunt to the ere as the blacke sanctus Of a sad sorte vpon a mery pyn.
  1533, R. Saltwood, (Please provide the book title or journal name)