once upon a time

• IPA^(key): /ˈwʌns.əˈpɑn.əˈtaɪ̯m/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

once upon a time (not comparable)

1. A long time ago; at some time in the past (a traditional beginning of children's stories, especially fairy tales).

   Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful princess.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbj&oslash￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 308:

     There was once upon a time a charcoal-burner who had a son, and he was also a charcoal-burner.

   • 2023, A. C. MacDonald, Twistwood Tales (comic), Andrews McMeel, →ISBN, page 138:

     Once upon a time, there was a Goblin Queen
     And she lived in a grand palace...

2. Formerly.
   • 2012, Christoper Zara, chapter 2, in Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, page 51:

     Long before popular music evolved its many genres and subgenres, the industry was driven by a simple one-size-fits-all philosophy […] Songwriters, once upon a time, wrote songs for the masses.

• Not to be confused with upon a time, which has a different meaning.

• (a long time ago): anciently, way back; see also Thesaurus:long ago

• Note: Many of the translations are literally “There once was” or "One time". The translation of “Once upon a time, there was a princess” into Italian, for example, would therefore be “C’era una volta una principessa” (literally, “There was once a princess”).

• Once upon a time (phrase) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia