immemorial

A time long before one would be able to remember; since the distant past. Our family line has presided over this land from time immemorial. Giant sea turtles have been coming to this spot to mate from time immemorial.

From a time long before one would be able to remember; since the distant past. Our family line has presided over this land since time immemorial. Giant sea turtles have been coming to this spot to mate since time immemorial.

Long before one would be able to remember; the distant past. Our family line has presided over this land since time immemorial. Giant sea turtles have been coming to this spot to mate since time immemorial.

since a very long time ago. (Literally, since time before recorded history.) My hometown has had a big parade on the Fourth of July since time immemorial. since time immemorial, the trees have blossomed each spring.

Also, time out of mind. Long ago, beyond memory or recall, as in These ruins have stood here since time immemorial, or His office has been on Madison Avenue for time out of mind. The first expression comes from English law, where it signifies "beyond legal memory," specifically before the reign of Richard I (1189-1199), fixed as the legal limit for bringing certain kinds of lawsuit. By about 1600 it was broadened to its present sense of "a very long time ago." The variant, first recorded in 1432, uses mind in the sense of "memory" or "recall."

If you say that something has been happening since time immemorial or from time immemorial, you mean that it has been happening for many centuries. Thailand's central position in Southeast Asia has had a major effect on the art of the area since time immemorial. From time immemorial, we have danced to celebrate the sacred forces of Nature.

Since ancient times; prior to anyone’s recall. According to Ebenezer Brewer, this term comes from English law, where it meant beyond legal memory—that is, before the reign of Richard I (1189– 99), fixed by the Statute of Westminster (1275) as the legal limit for bringing certain kinds of legal action (similar to the present-day statute of limitations). Later it came to mean simply a very long time ago. Thus Oliver Goldsmith wrote (The Bee, 1759), “This deformity . . . it had been the custom, time immemorial, to look upon as the greatest ornament of the human visage.” Exactly the same is meant by time out of mind, which dates from the fifteenth century, when it appeared in print in Rolls of Parliament. Both terms have been clichés since about 1800. See also since the beginning of time.