preterite
/ˈpɹɛtəɹɪt/ adjective, noun
Forms preterites preterit praeterite præterite pret.
- adjective (grammar, of a tense) Showing an action at a determined moment in the past.
- adjective Belonging wholly to the past; passed by.
- noun (grammar) A grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English preterit, from Old French preterit (13th century), from Latin praeteritum (as in tempus praeteritum (“time past”)), the past participle of praetereō (“to go by, go past”), itself from praeter (“beyond, before, above, more than”) (comparative of prae (“before”)) + itum (the past participle of eō (“to go”)).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Same as Preterit.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “preterite”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details