This is the 4266th most frequent German word.
ehe
Marriage.
Here, 'ehe' means 'before', indicating an action preceding another action.
Er überlegte es sich noch einmal, ehe er die Entscheidung traf.
He thought about it once more before he made the decision.
In this sentence, 'Ehe' means 'marriage', referring to a marital relationship.
Ihre Ehe war von Anfang an schwierig.
Her marriage was difficult from the beginning.
Again, 'ehe' is used as 'before', showing precedence in action.