Praeterite

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. The grammatical form of a verb that expresses an action completed before the present time ; the past as a period of time or collection of events that have already occurred
2. A verb form showing that an action happened earlier ; the bygone period of time or the events that took place in it
3. Indicating an action finished in an earlier time frame ; the era or history of things that have already happened

Etymology: "Praeterite" comes from Latin "praeteritus," the past participle of "praeterire," meaning "to go by" or "to pass beyond," built from "prae" (before, beyond) and "ire" (to go). The literal sense is something that has gone past, which is why the Latin word came to mean "past" in grammatical and temporal senses. In English it is an older spelling of "preterite," the grammatical term for the past tense, used for verb forms such as "went" or "walked." As a noun it names that tense, and as an adjective it describes something belonging to the past or a verb in that tense. The spelling with the "ae" preserves the Latin form, while "preterite" simplified it.

Synonyms: preterite, preterit, past tense

Antonyms: present tense, future tense