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.