Pret"er*it [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. pr'et'erit. See Issue.] [Written also preterite and praeterite.]
1. Gram.
Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.
2.
Belonging wholly to the past; passed by.
[R.]
Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa.
Lowell.
© Webster 1913.
Pret"er*it, n. Gram.
The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.
© Webster 1913.