My brain is claiming there is such a word, but Google seems to disagree:
Is there any word with the same "flavor" as hence (somewhat ostentatious, perhaps? Victorian?) in the meaning of "in the future", but with the opposite meaning. I want to say something happened two decades hence (meaning two decades ago), but I know it's wrong (it would actually mean two decades from now).
I've found hitherto, heretofore and perhaps yet, which have the "flavor" I'm seeking and the generally opposite meaning, but they don't seem to have the same idea of "number of years or amount of time" before now that hence allows for…
[edit] It would fit into a sentence similar to or along these lines:
"Born forty-eight years [hence?], the gentleman accomplished several feats of note"
[/end edit]
Is there such a word?
Best Answer
Dan Bron's suggestion of past has the right flavour. Here's an example in a book title (emphasis mine):
The primary drawback with past in this example is that it has the connotation of the duration of that interval, while hence refers more directly to the time at the end of the interval.
If we are permitted an unspecified but recent interval, another term with a similar flavour to consider is late.
One might extend this to say late of Chicago, now living in Philadelphia, then on to Canada, two years hence.
Another word to consider is previous. Unlike past, it refers to a specific time (not the interval), and unlike late, it can refer to a time of any duration before the present. Here's an example (emphasis mine):
As for flavour, this is getting into personal tastes. Here's a sample for comparison and contrast with hence: ten years previous and ten years hence.