preterite

preterite
Preterit Pret"er*it (?; 277), a. [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. pr['e]t['e]rit. See {Issue}.] [Written also {preterite} and {pr[ae]terite}.] 1. (Gram.) Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past. [1913 Webster]

2. Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.] [1913 Webster]

Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa. --Lowell. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Preterite — Pret er*ite, a. & n. Same as {Preterit}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • preterite — (adj.) mid 14c., having to do with the past, from O.Fr. preterit (13c.), from L. praeteritum (as in tempus praeteritum time past ), pp. of praeterire to go by, go past, from praeter beyond, before, above, more than (comparative of prae before;… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Preterite — This article is about the grammatical term. To see the article relating to eschatology and the Book of Revelation, see Preterism. The preterite (also praeterite, in American English also preterit, simple past, or past historic) is the grammatical …   Wikipedia

  • preterite — pret|er|ite also preterit AmE [ˈpretərıt] n [Date: 1300 1400; : French; Origin: prétérit, from Latin praeteritus, past participle of praeterire to go past ] the preterite technical the tense or verb form that expresses a past action or condition… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • preterite — also preterit AmE noun the preterite technical the tense or verb form that expresses a past action or condition preterite adjective …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • preterite — /ˈprɛtərət / (say pretuhruht), /ˈprɛtrət / (say pretruht) adjective 1. Grammar designating a tense usually denoting an action or state which was completed in the past. For example, in the sentence John hit Jack, hit could be said to be in the… …  

  • preterite — adj. & n. (US preterit) Gram. adj. expressing a past action or state. n. a preterite tense or form. Etymology: ME f. OF preterite or L praeteritus past part. of praeterire pass (as PRETER , ire it go) …   Useful english dictionary

  • Preterite — Die Englische Grammatik ist die Grammatik der englischen Sprache. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Satzbau 2 Wortarten 2.1 Substantive (Nouns) 2.1.1 Numerus 2.1.2 Genera …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • preterite — 1. adjective showing an action at a determined moment in the past. 2. noun The preterite tense, simple past tense: the grammatical tense that determines the specific initiation or termination of an action in the past. See Also …   Wiktionary

  • Preterite-present verb — Following the convention in historical linguistics, this article marks unattested reconstructed words with an asterisk. The so called preterite present verbs are a small group of anomalous verbs in the Germanic languages in which the present… …   Wikipedia

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